This Constitution dated March 2005 supersedes all previous constitutions of the Consortium.

The name of the Consortium shall be “The Central Buying Consortium”.

The purpose of the Consortium shall be to effect savings in public expenditure by improving the effectiveness of procurement through collaboration and best practice for the benefit of its members.

1. Consortium members are committed to a professional collaborative and best value procurement service provided locally, sustained by national strength and influence.
   
2. It is a condition of membership of the Consortium that member authorities and bodies shall:
   
   1. Work together in the negotiation and utilisation of joint contracts
      
   2. Treat information acquired through exchanges between members as confidential
      
   3. Act with openness and honesty between members
      
   4. Not work either individually or together to the detriment of any other member(s)
      
   5. Wherever possible or practical, given local circumstances, meet their contract requirements through the arrangements made by the Consortium
      
   6. Make such fair contributions to the running and resource needs of the Consortium as are consistent with the principles approved by the Management Committee.
      
   7. Ensure best practice is adopted and shared

       

1. The following local authorities are members at 1 April 2005.
   
• Bedfordshire County Council
• Buckinghamshire County Council
• Coventry City Council
• Dorset County Council
• Essex County Council
• Hampshire County Council
• Hertfordshire County Council
• Kent County Council
• Luton Borough Council
• Milton Keynes Council
• Northampton Borough Council
• Northamptonshire County Council
• Oxfordshire County Council
• Portsmouth City Council
• Southampton City Council
• Suffolk County Council
• West Sussex County Council
  
2. Other local authorities or outside bodies may be permitted, by the decision of the Management Committee as provided under section 6(a)(v), to join the Consortium as full members upon such other terms as the Management Committee may decide, or associate membership for specific purposes as the Management Committee may from time to time approve.
   
3. A member local authority or body may be excluded from further membership by decision of the Management Committee as provided under section 6(a)(v).
   
4. Where another local authority or body is admitted to membership under section 5(b), or where a member is excluded from membership under section 5(c), then that admission or exclusion shall be deemed to be recorded in this Constitution in the appropriate section 5(a) above.

    

The work of the Consortium shall be carried out by a Management Committee, an Executive Board, and Buying Groups.

1. Management Committee
   
   1. The Management Committee shall be the main board of management and policy of the Consortium. It shall be responsible for:
      
      1. Establishing and monitoring the governance arrangements for the Consortium
         
      2. Ensuring that the activity of the Consortium conforms with the Constitution, and that the Constitution is appropriate to the proper needs of the Consortium
         
      3. Electing for a period not exceeding two years without a further election the Chairman of the Consortium, who shall be Chairman of both the Management Committee and the Executive Board
         
      4. Electing for a period not exceeding two years without a further election other officers of the Consortium
         
      5. Electing for a period not exceeding two years without a further election the members of the Executive Board
         
      6. Decisions relating to admission to and exclusion from membership of the Consortium
         
      7. Evaluating the contribution and commitment made to the Consortium by each member and taking any necessary action
         
      8. Establishing policies relating to access to the benefits of the Consortium by non-members
         
      9. Establishing such other policies as may be required from time to time
         
      10. Determining the plans and reports submitted by the Executive Board, and making appropriate directions and recommend-ations
          
      11. Ensuring that proper measures are in place to safeguard any assets held by or on behalf of the Consortium
          
      12. Ensuring that proper records are kept of the meetings of both the Management Committee and of the Executive Board
          
   2. The Management Committee shall consist of one representative from each full member authority or body, who shall be the head of the purchasing profession or equivalent of that authority or body. The Management Committee will meet as required, but not less frequently than twice a year. The form of meeting will be at the discretion of the Management Committee provided that every member shall have a fair and reasonable opportunity to participate.
      
   3. The Management Committee shall designate one of its meetings each year as the Annual Meeting. At its Annual Meeting the Management Committee will appoint the Chairman, such other officers as are necessary, and the members of the Executive Board, where vacancies exist or terms of office are expiring.
      
   4. The Chairman shall be empowered to act on behalf of the Management Committee in any matter which, in his/her opinion, requires immediate attention and which does not justify the holding of a special meeting of the Committee, or in respect of which matters there will be insufficient time in which to call a special meeting of the Committee.
   
   Any decisions taken by the Chairman 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.
   
   
   5. For the purpose of ensuring efficient and speedy progress:
      
      1. Each representative (or his/her substitute if the representative cannot participate in person) shall have one vote;
         
      2. In the absence of unanimity on any issue before the Management Committee, such matters shall be decided by a simple majority vote;
         
      3. In the event of a tied vote, the Chairman shall exercise a second casting vote;
         
      4. On changes affecting membership and the constitution, such matters must be advised in advance in writing to all members of the Management Committee, and the matter shall be decided by unanimous agreement of all members, except in the case of the expulsion of a member where the vote of that member shall not be counted.
2. Executive Board
   
   1. The Executive Board shall have responsibility for carrying forward the work of the Consortium. It shall be responsible for:
      
      1. Advising the Management Committee on matters of governance, policy, membership and appointments;
         
      2. Submitting plans and reports on the work of the Consortium to the Management Committee, acting on their directions and heeding their recommendations, and taking such other actions as are appropriate;
         
      3. Establishing effective management arrangements to carry out the work of the Consortium, including appropriate Buying Groups;
         
      4. Appointing to positions of responsibility, including the chair or leader of each Buying Group, for a given period;
         
      5. Making interim arrangements where casual vacancies to officerships and to the Executive Board occur, until such time as the Management Committee elects a replacement.
         
   2. The composition of the Executive Board shall be determined by the Annual Meeting. The Executive Board may co-opt other staff to assist in its work as it sees fit, but only in consultation with the Management Committee representative from the authority or body to which such staff belong. The Executive Board shall meet with a frequency which best facilitates the performance of its remit.

3. Buying Groups
   
   1. The Executive Board shall appoint such Buying Groups as it considers necessary from the staff of the procurement and user departments of its members. It is the responsibility of each member authority or body to make its staff, including staff from other departments, aware of their obligations under the conditions of membership (section 4(b)) and such other processes to which they may be party (such as joint contracting).
      
   2. Staff from other organisations such as strategic partners may participate provided that, in advance of their participation, they, and the member which they represent, have agreed formally to abide by the conditions of membership set out in 4. The Executive Board may adjudicate where objections are raised to the participation of such staff. In all cases, the views of existing contracted suppliers about the possible involvement of strategic partners will be established in advance of such participation and where any issues cannot be resolved by the Group Chairman, these will be referred to the Executive Board.
      
   3. The Executive Board will appoint a chair or leader for each Buying Group, and will establish its remit and reporting requirements.

       

1. Those Buying Groups concerned with procurement contracts shall be open to participation from all members (and their associates) who have a need for the respective commodities or services. Members are encouraged to strengthen the work of these groups by developing common specifications, avoiding non-standard requirements or specific brands, and compromising in the interest of presenting strong, coherent requirements to the market.
   
2. The Chairman of a Procurement Buying Group shall identify for any given contract a lead buyer in a lead authority, who will undertake the bulk of the work in tendering for and concluding the contract, in consultation with colleagues in other member authorities. The lead authority’s Contract Procedure Rules or Standing Orders shall operate in relation to the tender and contract on which they lead on behalf of the Consortium.
   
3. The lead authority will consult with all participating authorities and make every effort to resolve any differences of opinion on the specification and tender to be offered to the market, and subsequently on the acceptance of offers. Before any offer is accepted, lead authorities will circulate to participating member authorities summarised recommendations on offers received and seek written agreement on contract award.
   
4. All information is to be exchanged in confidence. In the event of there being an issue of confidentiality members should consult with an appropriate member of the Executive Board.
   
5. Orders will be placed by individual authorities and contracts will be effected when such orders are placed upon the supplier or contractor whose tender has been accepted on behalf of the Consortium. The normal contractual relationship will then ensue.
   
6. In those cases where contracts contain price or other variation clauses and the criteria on which such variations could take place are met, lead Authorities are given powers to deal with and accept or reject variations on behalf of all Member Authorities. Price issues on Consortium contracts must not be dealt with other than by or with the lead buyer.
   
7. The lead buyer shall be responsible for reporting on the conclusion of the contract (and variations to it at a later date) to the Group Chairman as soon as possible.
   
8. Disputes relating to local experiences, such as slow deliveries or poor service, should in the first instance be taken up by the buyer in the authority affected with the contractor directly. Where this fails to rectify the problem, the buyer should contact the lead buyer in the lead authority so that the matter can be escalated.