A central purchasing body means a contracting authority which provides centralised purchasing activities and which may also provide ancillary purchasing activities.
Centralised purchasing activity means activities conducted on a permanent basis in one of the following forms:-
- the acquisition of supplies or services, or both, intended for contracting authorities
- the award of public contracts or the conclusion of framework agreements for works, supplies or services intended for contracting authorities
Institutions purchasing works, supplies or services through a central purchasing body fulfils its obligations under The Public Contracts Regulations 2015, however institutions shall be responsible for fulfilling the obligations imposed by The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in respect of any parts of the procedure that it conducts itself such as conducting a reopening of competition under a framework agreement that has been concluded by a central purchasing body.
The concept of a central purchasing body, therefore, recognises the position of the Crescent Purchasing Consortium and other groupings of institutions that work together to prepare contracts, framework agreements, etc for the benefits of participants that are named in the original contract notice published on the Find a Tender Service.