Governance
The Arts Council is a transparent and open organisation.
We are committed to providing the best possible level of customer service and maintaining high standards of customer care.
We aim to provide the best possible level of customer service
Our Customer Service Charter outlines our agreed service standards and our promises to both clients and the Northern Ireland public.
Policies
The way in which we conduct our work is outlined in a series of policies.
Freedom of Information
If you have an additional request for information which is not available on our website, please follow the procedures outlined below.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Subject Access Requests
If you want to ask us for information which we may hold about you personally, please contact us by:
- Emailing info@artscouncil-ni.org with the subject heading “FAO: Data Controller”
- Writing to the Data Controller, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Linen Hill House, 23 Linenhall Street, Lisburn, BT28 1FJ
Please specify the kind of information you wish to be made available to you.
Under the Data Protection Act 2018 we have one month to provide the information you ask for. If you are unhappy with any aspect of the way in which we deal with your Subject Access Request you may complain to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland or to the Information Commissioner.
If you feel we have failed to disclose information without good reason you may apply to a Court for disclosure.
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Publication Scheme
In order to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 public sector organisations such as ours have to routinely publish information whenever possible.
The Information Commissioner, who is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, has drawn up what is called a Model Publication Scheme for all public sector organisations which we have decided to adopt and formally commit to. The Commissioner has also published a ‘Definition Document for Northern Ireland Non Departmental Public Bodies' which sets out in some detail what his minimum expectations are as far as we are concerned.
We have reviewed the information we routinely put into the public domain to ensure we are compliant with the Definition document. You will be able to see where we don’t hold relevant information or where for some reason we have decided not to routinely disclose information identified in the Definition document by referring to our Publication Scheme Guidance.
Most of the information we make routinely available can be accessed through our website by using the search facility. Such information is continually updated. If you cannot find information through the search engine and we have indicated in the definition document that the information is routinely available this may be because the information cannot be loaded onto our website.
In such circumstances please contact:
Operations Officer
Linen Hill House
23 Linenhall Street
Lisburn
BT28 1FJ
email: foi@artscouncil-ni.org
Please specify the kind of information you wish to be made available to you.
Accessing information which is not included in the Publication Scheme
As an open and transparent organisation we are committed to routinely publishing as much information as possible; however if you want information which is not on our website or otherwise available through our guide to information you may ask us for it in accordance with further provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and of the Environmental Information Regulations 2005.
Requests for such information should be sent to:
Operations Officer
Linen Hill House
23 Linenhall Street
Lisburn
BT28 1FJ
email: foi@artscouncil-ni.org
By law we have to deal with such requests within 20 working days. If you make a request and are not satisfied with the way in which we deal with it you may ask us to review any decision we make.
If you wish us to undertake such a review you should write to:
Operations Officer
Linen Hill House
23 Linenhall Street
Lisburn
BT28 1FJ
email: foi@artscouncil-ni.org
Any review will normally be under the control and direction of a senior member of staff who had no involvement in the original decision or process.
Making a complaint
If you remain dissatisfied at the conclusion of any review you may complain to the Information Commissioner whose address is
The Information Commissioner’s Office Northern Ireland
51 Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT2 8FE
Telephone: 028 9026 9380
Fax: 028 9026 9388
Email: ni@ico.gsi.gov.uk
Web: http://www.ico.gov.uk/about_us/regional_offices/northern_ireland.aspx
The Arts Council maintains a list of requests made under Freedom of Information. An anonymised list of these queries for the last financial year is available by clicking here.
Fees and Charges
The Freedom of Information Act and the associated Fees Regulations stipulate that we cannot levy a fee for information unless there is a statutory basis for doing so or the amount of time taken to locate the information exceeds 18 hours. However we are allowed to charge for disbursements related to the provision of information and any reformatting requested by the applicant provided we ensure that applicants are aware of any charges which may be made.
No charges will be made for any information accessed via our website.
Fees charged for Freedom of Information requests are dependent on a number of factors including the volume of material requested. Responses to enquiries that cost the Arts Council of Northern Ireland less than £450 to process will be normally be provided free of charge. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has the right to refuse to respond to a request that is estimated to cost more than £450 to process. If the cost is greater than £450 and you agree to pay these costs the Arts Council of Northern Ireland will normally provide you with the information once the fee has been paid.
If you want any further information about the provision of information or have any difficulty accessing information provided on our website please contact the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
Complaints
If you wish to make a complaint, we have a procedure for you to use
Should you have any queries about how to go about making a complaint please email complaints@artscouncil-ni.org
We have enhanced our established complaints procedure, which includes our commitment to acting fairly and proportionately and to seek continuous improvement throughout the organisation.
All complaints will be treated impartially and without unlawful discrimination or prejudice.
All complaints will be investigated thoroughly and fairly to establish the facts of the case, ensuring decisions are proportionate, appropriate and fair.
Complaints Procedure
The procedure applies to complaints about services supplied directly by the Arts Council or by third party organisations/individuals funded by the Arts Council. It does not apply to complaints from organisations/individuals who have been rejected for funding or who feel they have not received sufficient funding. Such complaints will be dealt with through the Funding Review procedure.
Complaints from members of the general public over funding decisions should be dealt with under this Service Complaints procedure.
Please note that the Arts Council will only consider complaints made in writing as formal complaints. The Arts Council will not record remarks/complaints made by telephone, or on social media as complaints.
Informal Telephone Complaints
Informal complaints should be directed to the most appropriate member of staff connected with the subject of the complaint, eg. the relevant Artform officer if the complaint is from or about a funded organisation; or, a member of the communications team if the complaint is about something that appeared in the press.
If you are unsure who to talk to, please refer to the staff list on our website.
artscouncil-ni.org/contact-us
The officer will try to resolve the issue immediately.
If you are not satisfied with the answer given by the officer the next step is to make a formal complaint in writing to the Complaints Administrator.
Complaints made in writing
All complaints should be addressed to the Complaints Administrator complaints@artscouncil-ni.org who will acknowledge receipt within 2 working days and will log the correspondence as a formal complaint.
(A) If the complaint is about a direct Arts Council service:
Stage 1: The Complaints Administrator will pass the complaint to the Director of Operations, and a formal reply will be issued within 7 working days of receipt of the complaint from the Complaints Administrator.
We will ensure complaints are investigated thoroughly and fairly to establish the facts of the case, ensuring decisions are proportionate, appropriate and fair.
Stage 2: If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of Stage 1, you may ask the Complaints Administrator, in writing, for the Chief Executive to review the response. Your request will be acknowledged within 2 working days and you will receive a response from the Chief Executive within 10 working days.
Stage 3: If you are still dissatisfied with the outcome of the Stage 2 Review, you can contact the Ombudsman: Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO), Progressive House, 33 Wellington Place, Belfast, BT1 6HN
Freepost: Freepost NIPSO
Telephone: 028 90233821
Free phone: 0800 34 34 24
Text phone: 028 90897789
Email: nipso@nipso.org.uk
Website: www.nipso.org.uk
(B) If the complaint is about a third party organisation/individual funded by the Arts Council
The Complaints Administrator will pass the complaint to the Director of Operations who will decide whether or not the complaint is to be handled in-house or whether it needs to be passed to the third party organisation (TPO) for action.
If the Director of Operations decides that this is an in-house matter, the complaint will be responded to within 7 working days.
If the Director of Operations decides that this is a matter for the TPO to resolve then a copy of the letter of complaint will be forwarded to the TPO within 3 working days. The covering letter will ask the TPO to deal with the matter and reply directly to you, the original complainant. The Arts Council cannot dictate to another organisation the timeframe within which it should reply to complaints. However, if a copy of the reply is not received from the TPO within one month, the Complaints Administrator will issue a reminder. If the TPO fails to provide a copy of the reply following a reminder this will be brought to the attention of the Director of Operations who will contact the TPO directly to establish the position.
(C) Anonymous complaints
All written anonymous complaints will be logged as above. The Director of Operations will decide on the level of investigation into the complaint and the outcome will be recorded on file.
Reporting
A quarterly report will be provided to the Board of the Arts Council, (May, September, October and January) on the number of complaints received and their outcome within the period.
Continuous Improvement:
At the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, we consistently work towards seeking continuous improvement, as such, we will use your feedback to improve service design and delivery.
In the case that amendments to services, guidance and policies have been highlighted and can be adopted, you will be informed and thanked for your comments.