Local Authorities (Goods and Services) Act 1970

1 Supply of goods and services by local authorities.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a local authority and any public body within the meaning of this section may enter into an agreement for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say—

(a) the supply by the authority to the body of any goods or materials;

(b) the provision by the authority for the body of any administrative, professional or technical services;

(c) the use by the body of any vehicle, plant or apparatus belonging to the authority and, without prejudice to paragraph (b) above, the placing at the disposal of the body of the services of any person employed in connection with the vehicle or other property in question;

(d) the carrying out by the authority of works of maintenance in connection with land or buildings for the maintenance of which the body is responsible;

and a local authority may purchase and store any goods or materials which in their opinion they may require for the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(2) Nothing in paragraphs (a) to (c) of the preceding subsection authorises a local authority—

(a) to construct any buildings or works; or

(b) to be supplied with any property or provided with any service except for the purposes of functions conferred on the authority otherwise than by this Act.

(3) Any agreement made in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section may contain such terms as to payment or otherwise as the parties consider appropriate.

(4) In this Act—

• " local authority ", in relation to England and Wales, means the council of any county, county borough, county district or London borough, the Greater London Council, the Common Council of the City of London, the Council of the Isles of Scilly and any joint board, joint committee and combined authority and, in relation to Scotland, has the meaning assigned to it by section 113(1) of the [1947 c. 53.] Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947;

• " public body " means any local authority, any person who is a public body by virtue of subsection (5) of this section and, in relation to England and Wales, any parish council, council of a borough included in a rural district and representative body of a rural parish; and

• " works of maintenance " include minor renewals, minor improvements and minor extensions.

(5) The following Ministers, that is to say—

(a) in relation to England and Wales, the Minister of Housing and Local Government and the Secretary of State acting jointly; and

(b) in relation to Scotland, the Secretary of State,

may by order made by statutory instrument provide that any person who is specified in the order or is of a description so specified, being a person or description of persons appearing to those Ministers or the Secretary of State to be exercising functions of a public nature, shall be a public body for the purposes of this Act in its application to England and Wales or Scotland, as the case may be; and any statutory instrument made by virtue of this subsection shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(6) An order under the preceding subsection may contain such provisions as the person making it considers appropriate—

(a) for restricting the agreements which may by virtue of the order be entered into by a public body;

(b) without prejudice to the preceding paragraph, for securing the inclusion in any agreement made by virtue of the order of terms imposing restrictions.