Council
As a council, our activities touch the lives of everyone living in our island community, from schools to the care of the elderly, from rubbish collection to maintaining the county’s roads and from caring for burial grounds to handling planning applications. OIC has an impact on many aspects of everyday life. With around 1,800 staff, we are also the county’s biggest employer.
Finding public service information
For detailed information on the services we provide, please explore the Service Directory or the A-Z index to locate the information you require. Popular topics can be found using the Online services section.
If you need further assistance, visit our contact us web page to view the options for contacting Orkney Islands Council.
Commitment to high quality services
With such wide ranging responsibilities, we are committed to providing good-value, high quality services across the county. That commitment means we are continually looking for ways to improve the way we work.
History
OIC is Britain’s smallest local authority - but we lead the way in Scotland in providing all the council services used by the people of the county. Set up in 1974, the Council became a model for the delivery of local government across the nation – a model used in the creation of 31 similar all-purpose authorities in 1996.
Open government
We are well aware that local authorities can be seen by some as remote, mysterious and bound up in red tape. But the principle of open government is important to us. Debates in the council chamber are often lively affairs, widely reported in the local media, and can be watched in comfort from a public gallery. We hope that you will be able to use this website to find out more about us – and to get involved in shaping the way we work.
Serving the public
We never forget that we are here to serve the public, with a big role to play in improving the quality of life enjoyed by people throughout the islands. We work closely with organisations like Orkney Enterprise, NHS Orkney and Orkney Housing Association and we respond to feedback from community councils.
In Depth
- Press Releases
Use this section to keep up to date with all the latest news from Orkney Islands Council - Public Notices
- Community councils
Services and information related to the Community Councils, which play an important role in local democracy by representing local views, including meeting dates and Agenda/Minutes. - Consultations
Information on how the council performs public consultaion specific areas of their service delivery, with links to active and past consultations. - Compliments and Complaints
This section has deails of Orkney Islands Council's complaints procedure, how to pay compliments and details of SPSO investigations. - Council Services
An introduction to the Service Directors and structure of Orkney Islands Council, and links to more information. - Council Grants and Funds
Information about grants and funds available through or supported by Orkney Islands Council - Council Plans
Information on Orkney Islands Council's long term plans, including links to full documents. - Council Policies
Information on a wide range of policies that reflect our aims, goals and values, with links to specific policies. - Councillors and Committees
The 'Councillors and Committees' has articles explaining the role of Councillors, the Committee structure and cycles, including Committee membership and Minutes/Agedas and Reports. - Emergency Planning
Information on the Emergency planning services of Orkney Islands Council, including plans on Flooding, Severe weather and Emergencies on Flotta oil terminal. - Online Payment
Details on how you can pay Council bills online, and how to get further information. - Performance and statistics
This section has articles that detail on Orkney Islands Council's information, performance and statistics documents and reports. - Publications
This facility lists and filters all Orkney Island Council publications. - UK Parliamentary Elections 2010
Pages for the UK Parliamentary Elections 2010