Publication Scheme Section 2 - About the Moray Council
Location
Moray lies in the north-east of Scotland between Inverness and the Highlands to the west and Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to the east, and from the south shore of the Moray Firth and extending further south into the Cairngorm Mountains and National Park.
Moray is not difficult to reach by road, either via the A9 from Perth or the A96 from Aberdeen. The airports at Inverness and Aberdeen are both about an hour by road from the heart of Moray. The railway, with stations at Forres, Elgin and Keith, connects to the mainline termini at Inverness and Aberdeen.
The Moray Council employs a total number of 5,177 staff (full time equivalent of 3,763).
Its area of 2,238 square miles makes it the 8th largest Council area in Scotland. The area is mostly rural, comprising 75% open countryside and 25% woodland. However, in terms of its population, it ranks 25th out of 32 with a population of 88,000. Just over half of the population live in the five main towns of Elgin, Forres, Buckie, Lossiemouth and Keith. Upland areas to the south are more sparsely populated.
The Moray economy is largely based on its natural resources with the focus on agriculture, fishing, forestry, food products, whisky and tourism. The largest employer is the RAF with bases at Kinloss and Lossiemouth which contribute greatly to local earnings and bring skilled and qualified staff into the area.
Key Functions and Services
The Council delivers a wide range of functions and services to the community, many through statutory obligations. The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 places a legal duty on councils to lead community planning in their area, and also provides them with the statutory power to advance wellbeing – in other words, councils may undertake and/or support any activity in the interests of their local community, subject to certain limiting provisions.
These services include:
- Housing
- Social Work
- Education – schools and adult learning
- Economic Development
- Planning
- Roads, Highways and Bridges
- Car parks
- Environmental Protection
- Trading Standards
- Registrars
- Licensing
- Emergency Planning
- Leisure – Sports, Libraries, Archives, Museums and Heritage
- Parks and Open spaces
- Community centre and public halls
The Council is organised into 6 departments:-
Chief Executive - responsible for corporate policy and Members support
Central Services - responsible for Committee Services, registrations of births, marriages and deaths, Estates Services, Legal Services and Personnel Services
Community Services - responsible for Community Services, Community Care, Children & Families and Housing
Educational Services – responsible for Schools, including pre-school provision, Community Learning and Development, Libraries and Information Services, Support for Learning, Arts Development , Sports and Leisure Services, who are responsible for sports facilities and swimming pools across Moray, except for the Moray Leisure Centre in Elgin which is managed by Moray Leisure Limited.
Environmental Services – divided into – Development Services and Direct Services. Development Services are responsible for planning permissions, building regulations, environmental health, pest control, contaminated land, development plan, environmental improvements, Moray training, business development, consumer and debt advice by Trading Standards. Direct Services are responsible for fleet services, watercourse maintenance, flood alleviation, roads and bridges, transportation, transport, traffic, harbours, car parks, waste management, catering, building cleaning, countryside amenities, rangers’ services, land and parks, property
Finance & ICT – responsible for Information Communication Technology provision for the council, Community Charge and non-domestic rates, Payment collections and Procurement.
The Council is also committed to Community Planning and works alongside of Community Councils.
While the headquarters are in Elgin, there are area offices at Forres, Buckie and Keith.
The principal point of contact is The Moray Council, Council Offices, High Street, Elgin IV30 1BX. Tel: 01343 543451 Fax: 01343 540183. Moray Council’s web-site www.moray.gov.uk contains a comprehensive range of information about the Council and the Moray area.
Decision Making Structure
The Moray Council is the local authority providing services throughout the Moray area.
Moray has 8 Wards, each Ward is represented by 3 or 4 Elected Members. Ward boundaries are determined by the Boundary Commission. Constituents' names and addresses are listed, per Ward, in the Electoral Register and can be viewed by the public at local libraries and the Registrar's office. A copy is also held within the Members Support Section.
There are 26 Elected Members in The Moray Council who are elected when the public vote at local elections for an individual candidate to represent their Ward.
Details of the main groups/committees with responsibility for decision making are shown below or can be viewed on our website at:
http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_52167.html
Operational Structure of the council
The organisational structure of the council can be viewed on our website at: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_41222.html
Performance Reporting
The Council aims to achieve a significant, measurable and demonstrable improvement in the quality of life of its citizens by delivering or facilitating excellent, customer-focussed services. The Council is committed to providing members of the public with information on its performance to enable it to determine how well their Council is performing. In 2008, the Council signed up to its first Single Outcome Agreement with the Scottish Government. This agreement, which will be refreshed and published annually, explicitly sets out the outcomes which the Council is seeking to achieve with its community planning partners. The Council has to make an annual report to the Government on its progress towards these outcomes.
Other examples of service and financial performance information which will help people determine how well their Council is serving them include: statutory public performance reporting (for example, school inspections), community plans, external audit reports and customer feedback surveys. We are committed to publishing as much information as possible, and information on performance reporting is available under Information Class 1.13 and can also be found at http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_1277.html
Associated Organisations
Some local activities are delivered by organisations who work with, or are otherwise associated with, the Council, and are listed separately under Schedule 1 of FOISA - therefore having their own publication schemes. Examples include:
- Grampian NHS Board
- Grampian Primary Care NHS Trust
- Grampian University Hospitals Trust
- Scottish Water
- Grampian Joint Fire Board
- Grampian Joint Police Board
- Grampian Joint Valuation Board
Other organisations deliver Council services or work alongside the Council but are not wholly owned by the council/group of councils, or otherwise covered by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Examples include local leisure companies, charitable trusts, or public private partnerships. They are not covered by our publication scheme, nor do they have their own schemes:-
Moray Leisure Limited – responsible for the Moray Leisure Centre, Elgin
