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Strategy and governance
From Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO)
Published on
Last updated on
This Statement of Strategy sets out our key objectives to 2025. The Statement has been developed in consultation with our external stakeholders and with staff from each of the individual Offices and Business Units.
Corporate governance is defined as the systems, principles and processes by which organisations are directed and controlled. Good governance enables efficient and effective management that translates into value and excellent customer service for our stakeholders.
At the Standards Commission, we are given secretariat support by the Office of the Ombudsman. The Commission is co-located with the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Information Commissioner, the Office of the Environmental Information Commissioner, and the Commission for Public Service Appointments. These offices carry out separate and distinct statutory functions, but share services such as human resources, finance, and information and communications technology.
We are committed to best practice structures, processes and systems to successfully carry out our duties in an ethical, accountable, transparent and effective manner.
We firmly believe that good corporate governance is essential to deliver our strategic priorities. By documenting our governance arrangements, our stakeholders can be assured that good governance policies and practices are part of our culture.
The Government’s 2019 Climate Action Plan puts in place a decarbonisation pathway to 2030. The plan identifies that early action by public bodies on climate is fundamental to achieving Ireland’s decarbonisation targets and one of our Green Team’s aims is to assist in that regard.
Our Green Team was established in the Office in 2020. The main aims of the Green Team are to introduce environmentally friendly measures in the Office in the areas of energy, waste, transport and water, as well as improving the quality of the working environment. The Green Team has commenced a series of themed monthly awareness programmes to assist staff in making more environmentally sustainable decisions both in work and at home. Measures taken by the Office include:
- monitoring of energy usage and air quality in the Office
- providing keep cups to staff
- increasing the number of lockers to encourage a change in commuting habits
- waste and recycling awareness programmes
- provision of filtered drinking water taps in place of bottled water
- the replacement of desktop computers with more energy efficient laptops
- the introduction of PIN-controlled printers to reduce paper waste
- a move to a ‘paper-light’ and, where possible, ‘paperless’ office
The Green Team, with the support of senior management, will endeavour to introduce further initiatives that promote environmental sustainability for both individuals and the organisation.