1.   The Management Committee is the prime strategic decision making body of the Central Buying Consortium. It consists of one representative from each Full Member Authority, who shall be the head of the purchasing profession or equivalent of that Authority. Each representative shall have one vote. A representative who is absent may authorise another representative to exercise their vote by proxy.

2.   The Management Committee shall meet no less than four times a year, including the Annual General Meeting. At the Annual General Meeting the following appointment of Officers shall be made for the following year:

a)   The Chairman and the Vice-Chairman, who shall be existing members of the   Management Committee;

b)   The Secretary, and such other Officers as may be appointed as and when required, who may  or may not be members of the Management Committee. Office holders who are not members  of the Management Committee may attend Management Committee Meetings as required by permission of the Management Committee; but shall not have a vote and shall not be able to cast a proxy vote on behalf of another. The Management Committee member who employs the Office holder may represent them at Management Committee Meetings in their absence.

c)   Group Chairmen, who shall chair the work of the specialist Buying Groups, and the  professional Support Groups.

3.   Interim appointments made at other meetings of the Management Committee shall be valid until the next Annual General Meeting.

4.   It is expected that there shall be significant stability in the structure so that it may function without undue disruption, but also that posts will not remain permanently in the same hands. The prime criterion for appointment should be ability.

5.   The Chairman (or in his/her absence the Vice-Chairman) plus one other officer shall be jointly empowered to act on behalf of the Management Committee on any matter which, in their opinion, requires immediate attention at Management Committee level and which does not justify the holding of a special meeting of the Management Committee, or in respect of which matters there will be insufficient time in which to call a special meeting of the Committee.

6.   Any decisions taken by the Chairman and other Officers in such circumstances shall be communicated to members of the Management Committee as soon as possible and reported to the next meeting of the Management Committee.

7.   Executive Officer(s) of CBC shall undertake their role(s) within the policy established by the Management Committee. They may seek to influence the development of policy by making appropriate proposals to the Management Committee.

8.   Group Chairmen shall operate within the terms of the Purchasing Protocol (for Buying Groups, and other Professional Groups shall uphold the same principles relating to group dynamics, trust, confidentiality and communication).

9.   Management and mentoring of Group Chairmen shall be undertaken by nominated members of the Management Committee, and each Group Chairman shall be assigned one (or more) Executive Officer(s) to support them in the leadership of the Group.