The Public Bodies Order, 1925

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 46/1925

DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH.

GENERAL ORDER.

No. 57,863: 1925.

IN PURSUANCE of the powers vested in me by the Local Government Act, 1925 , and of all other powers enabling me in this behalf, I, the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, do order, and it is hereby ordered as follows :—

PRELIMINARY.

Article 1.— (1.) This Order may be cited as " The Public Bodies Order, 1925."

(2.) This Order shall not have effect in the County or the City of Dublin.

Article 2.— (1.) In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires :—

(a) the expression " the Act " shall mean the Local Government Act, 1925 ; the expression " the Act of 1898 " shall mean the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, and the expression " the Act of 1902 " shall mean the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1902 ;

(b) any expression defined in the Act shall have the same meaning as in the Act ;

(c) other expressions shall, subject to the express provisions in this Order, have the same meaning as in the Acts of 1898 and 1902 ;

(d) the expression " finance meeting " shall mean, in the case of the council of a county other than a county borough, the quarterly meeting, and, in the case of any other public body, such one of the meetings held by such body in each month as such body shall appoint to be the finance meeting ;

(e) the expression " secretary " or " clerk " of a public body shall include any person, by whatever name called, who performs, or may be required to perform, under or by direction of the public body, any duty or duties herein directed to be performed by a secretary or clerk ;

(f) the expression " superintendent " shall mean and include the Resident Medical Superintendent, or in his absence the Assistant Medical Officer, or other person duly appointed to act for or in place of the Resident Medical Superintendent ;

(g) the expression " county service " shall mean and include any service the expenses of which are paid by a county council and charged on the county at large other than the construction and maintenance of roads or the relief of the poor ;

(h) the expression " health district charges " shall mean and include the expenses of a board of health acting as sanitary authority for a county health district ;

(i) the expression " separate charge " shall mean and include any excluded charge within the meaning of the Act of 1898, leviable as a separate item of the poor rate either off the whole or part only of a county or off the whole or part only of a county health district, and any other charge leviable by a county council wholly or partly off any area or contributory place other than a county or county health district for any purpose except the relief of the poor ;

(j) the expression " charges under section 15 " shall mean the expenses of boards of health in exercising the functions of the committees which were abolished by section 15 of the Act ;

(k) any reference to a " quarterly meeting " and a " quarter " shall be construed to mean " half-yearly meeting " and " half-year " respectively in the case of any county in which the county council hold half yearly instead of quarterly meetings under section 12 of the Act of 1902 ;

(l) the expression " board of assistance " means a body to whom under a county scheme has been entrusted the relief of the poor in a county or part of a county, and the said expression includes a board of health and public assistance in the performance of its functions under a county scheme.

(2) The schedule to this Order shall be read and have effect as part of this Order.

(3) The Interpretation Act, 1923 , shall apply for the purpose of the interpretation of this Order as it applies for the interpretation of an Act.

Article 3.—The Minister may from time to time assent to any departure from the rules and regulations contained in this Order.

Article 4.—From and after the time at which this Order comes into operation the following Orders are hereby revoked, that is to say :—

The Local Government (Procedure of Councils) Order, 1899, as amended by any subsequent Order, and

The Public Bodies Order, 1904, as amended by any subsequent Order.

Provided that such revocation shall not affect the validity of any proceedings taken or matter or thing done under either of the said Orders, or remaining to be done in continuance of steps already duly taken under either of the said Orders.

PART I Applicable to every County Council, Borough Council, Board of Public Health, and Urban District Council.

Article 5.—The several books of account and forms shall be kept and filled up, and the several duties assigned and prescribed by this Order shall be punctually discharged by the respective proper officers of the council or board in the manner set forth and according to the directions given in this Order and in the schedule hereto. The secretary or clerk shall report to the council or board failure in this respect on the part of any officer, and an entry of such report and the order of the council or board thereon shall be recorded on the minutes. Officers who are required to sign or verify any book or document shall do so in their own handwriting and not by means of a rubber or other stamp.

Article 6.—The secretary or clerk shall punctually enter up and accurately keep the Minute Book or Books, in which shall be entered minutes of all orders and communications received from the Department of Local Government and Public Health, or other government department, and of all communications received relating to the business of the council, and of all directions given by the council thereon ; minutes of the production and examination of all books and accounts which are required to be periodically produced, examined, and signed ; minutes of the reports of the finance and other committees, and of reports of the secretary or clerk and other officers of the council or board, and of all directions given by the council or board thereon ; minutes of all moneys received and paid, and all accounts allowed, as well as all other business, proceedings, and transactions of the council or board, at any of their meetings.

Article 7.—On or before the seventh day of each month the secretary or clerk shall prepare and send to the Minister the Monthly Financial Statement (Form 1) showing in summary form the financial position of the council or board on the last day of the preceding month.

The statement shall be considered by the council or board at their next finance meeting.

Article 8.—A copy of the minutes of the proceedings of the council or board at each meeting shall be transmitted to the Department of Local Government and Public Health by the secretary or clerk within seven days of such meeting.

Article 9.—(1.) The receipts and payments of the council shall be brought to account through the Financial Statement Books of Receipts (Form 2) and of Expenditure (Form 3) under heads of account classified to correspond with those shown in the statement explanatory of the revenue account on the appropriate form of abstract of accounts, and shall be carried to a ledger.

(2.) The classification of the receipts and expenditure of a board of public health, or of any county council in respect of which the Minister shall so direct, shall not be shown in the Financial Statement Books (Forms 2 and 3) but shall be shown under separate numbered heads of account in the Classification of Receipts Book (Form 4) and the Classification of Expenditure Book (Form 5), and in such case the portions of the Financial Statement Books relating to such classification shall be omitted, and in substitution therefor shall be inserted after each receipt or payment in a special column a reference to the head of account in the appropriate classification book to which such receipt or payment has been transferred.

Article 10.—In the Ledger shall be entered and posted up from time to time the financial transactions of each finance meeting as shown in the Financial Statement Books or Classification Books, under the several heads of account and such additional heads or sub-heads of account as may from time to time become necessary in order to comply with any requirement of the Minister or otherwise.

Article 11.—Transactions in connection with the receipt and expenditure of capital moneys received by way of loan or otherwise shall be shown separately from those in respect of revenue in the Financial Statement Books and Ledger, and a separate capital account, including loans, shall be kept with the treasurer for transactions in respect of such capital moneys ; all necessary particulars as to every loan shall first be entered in the Register of Mortgages (Form 6). All transactions, whether in respect of revenue or capital, shall be included in the General Abstract of Accounts of the council or board (hereinafter referred to as the Abstract). If any payment ordered at a meeting includes items chargeable partly to revenue and partly to capital, and such payment is primarily made out of the revenue account in the bank, the entries in the Financial Statement Book or Classification Book of Expenditure shall appear under the appropriate revenue and capital heads of account, and an Advice Note, as hereinafter prescribed, shall be issued at the same meeting to the treasurer of such amount as will enable him to transfer from the capital account to the revenue account the total amount of capital expenditure so advanced out of revenue. No payments chargeable to the revenue account shall be paid out of the capital account.

Article 12.—(1.) Every officer of a council or board who receives money on behalf of a council or board shall issue to the person paying the same an official receipt bearing an identifying number to be taken from a receipt book provided by the council or board for the purpose.

(2.) Every such receipt shall set forth the date when the money was received, the amount thereof, the name of...