C1C2C3C4C5C6C171 Supply of goods and services by local authorities.

C141

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.

C152

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;

C163

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.

C7C8C9C104

In this Act—

  • “Local authority”, in relation to England and Wales, means the council of F1any county, county borough, F2..., county district or London borough F3the Greater London AuthorityF4the Broads Authority, F5..., the Common Council of the City of London, the Council of the Isles of Scilly and any joint board, joint committee and combined authority F6 ...F7 and any joint authority established by Part IV of the Local Government Act 1985, F25any corporate joint committee established by regulations made under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021,F17any economic prosperity board established under section 88 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, any combined authority established under section 103 of that Act,F62any combined county authority established under section 9(1) of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023,F23any fire and rescue authority created by an order under section 4A of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004,F21... F18, a Mayoral development corporationF8and F22the London Fire CommissionerF19and Transport for London and, in relation to Scotland, F9means a F10council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 or any joint board or combination of those councils;

  • F15“public body” means any local authority F11, any F20police and crime commissioner, F12..., any F13housing action trust established under Part III of the Housing Act 1988F16, any probation trust, F24... 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, F2... and representative body of a rural parish; and

  • F15“works of maintenance” include minor renewals, minor improvements and minor extensions.

C11C12C135

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.

F147

The Great Yarmouth Port and Haven Commissioners shall be treated as a public body for the purposes of paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) above as those paragraphs apply in relation to agreements entered into by the Broads Authority.

C18C20C191 Supply of goods and services by local authorities.

1

Subject to the provisions of this section, a local authority and any F26person may F27, in relation to any relevant trading operation carried on by the authority, enter into an agreement for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say—

a

the supply by the authority to the F26person of any goods or materials;

b

the provision by the authority for the F26person of any F28... services;

c

the use by the F26person of any F29property belonging to or facilities under the control of the authority and, without prejudice to paragraph (b) above, the placing at the disposal of the F26person of the services of any person employed in connection with the F29property or facility in question;

F30d

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F30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F311A

A local authority shall not, in relation to any trading operation carried on by them, enter into an agreement under subsection (1) above if the likely result of doing so would be that the commercial services income accruing to the authority in any financial year under that and all other such agreements already entered into by the authority with such persons in relation to that operation would exceed the statutory limit.

1B

Subsection (1A) above does not apply in respect of an agreement entered into by a local authority with—

a

another local authority;

b

a public authority or body; or

c

a person who, in the circumstances set out in subsection (1L) below, enters into the contract in order to provide the local authority with goods or services,

or with a person who, not being a public body, has functions of a public nature or engages in activities of that nature and the purpose or effect of the agreement is to facilitate discharge by that person of those functions or that person’s engagement in those activities.

1C

The restriction in subsection (1A) does not prevent a local authority from entering into an agreement where the likely result of doing so would be that the income referred to in that subsection will exceed the limit there referred to if the Scottish Ministers give prior consent to the authority doing so.

1D

In subsection (1A) above—

a

the “commercial services” income of a local authority is that part of their income which—

i

is derived from agreements entered into for all or any of the purposes set out in subsection (1) above and is, in accordance with proper accounting practices, credited to a trading account kept by the authority for a trading operation;

ii

is derived from relevant dividends; or

iii

is derived from relevant profit sharing agreements; and

b

the “statutory limit” for a trading operation is such amount as the Scottish Ministers may, by order, fix.

1E

For the purposes of subsection (1D) above—

  • “relevant dividend” means a dividend paid by a body corporate which carries on operations which, if they were carried on by the authority to which the dividend is paid, would be relevant trading operations;

  • “relevant profit sharing agreement” means an agreement between a local authority and a body corporate which carries on such operations in terms of which the body corporate undertakes to pay to the authority a proportion of any income which it derives from carrying out those operations.

1F

An amount so fixed may be expressed as a fraction of any other amount specified or referred to in the order.

1G

Different amounts may be so fixed for different trading operations or classes of trading operation, and an amount may be so fixed for all trading operations.

1H

Where, for any trading operation, no amount has been so fixed, the prohibition in subsection (1A) above applies, the condition of its application set out in that subsection being ignored.

1I

If, however, in the case of a trading operation for which no amount has been fixed, the Scottish Ministers give prior consent to a local authority entering into an agreement under subsection (1) above in relation to that trading operation, that prohibition does not apply.

1J

An order under subsection (1D)(b) above shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the Scottish Parliament.

1K

Before making such an order, the Scottish Ministers shall consult such persons as they think fit.

1L

The circumstances referred to in paragraph (c) of subsection (1B) above are that the local authority considers that the provision of the goods or services under the contract mentioned in that paragraph will be facilitated if the person who has entered into the contract is within that paragraph.

1M

A local authority shall, before entering any such agreement as is referred to in subsection (1) above, have regard to whether doing so will be likely to promote or improve the well-being of—

a

their area and persons within that area;

b

either of those.

1N

For the purposes of subsection (1M) above, “well-being” is to be construed in the same way as it is construed for the purposes of section 20 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 (asp 1).

1O

References in this section to a trading operation are, in relation to a local authority, references to a trading operation for which, in accordance with proper accounting practices (within the meaning of section 12 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 (asp 1)) the authority keep trading accounts.

1P

The reference in subsection (1) above to a relevant trading operation is a reference to a trading operation which is carried on for the purpose of enabling a local authority to raise money, by borrowing or otherwise.

2

Nothing in paragraphs (a) to (c) of the F32subsection (1) above authorises a local authority—

a

to construct any buildings or works; or

b

to be supplied with any property F33, goods or materials or provided with any service except

F34i

for the purposes of functions conferred on the authority otherwise than by this Act;

F35ii

for the purpose of enabling the authority to supply the property, goods or materials or, as the case may be, provide the service to another authority;

iii

in the case of the supply of goods or materials, where that supply is for the purpose of, or is incidental to the purpose of, enabling the authority to supply property or, as the case may be, provide a service; or

iv

in any other case, where the Scottish Ministers have consented to the supply or provision.

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 F36any county, county borough, F56..., county district or London borough F37the Greater London AuthorityF38the Broads Authority, F57..., the Common Council of the City of London, the Council of the Isles of Scilly and any joint board, joint committee and combined authority F39 ...F58 and any joint authority established by Part IV of the Local Government Act 1985, F40any corporate joint committee established by regulations made under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021,F41any economic prosperity board established under section 88 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, any combined authority established under section 103 of that Act,F42any fire and rescue authority created by an order under section 4A of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004,F59... F43, a Mayoral development corporationF44and F45the London Fire CommissionerF46and Transport for London and, in relation to Scotland, F47means a F48council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 or any joint board or combination of those councils;

  • F49“public body” means any local authority F50, any F51police and crime commissioner, F60..., any F52housing action trust established under Part III of the Housing Act 1988F53, any probation trust, F61... 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, F56... and representative body of a rural parish; and

  • F54“property” includes land, accommodation, vehicles, plant and apparatus; and

  • F49“works of maintenance” include minor renewals, minor improvements and minor extensions.

F555

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F556

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