Central Purchasing Body

A contracting authority that acquires supplies, services or works for other contracting authorities, or awards framework agreements or dynamic purchasing systems for their use, as defined under the PCR 2015.

Definition

A Central Purchasing Body (CPB) is a contracting authority that performs centralised purchasing activities on behalf of other contracting authorities. The term is defined in Regulation 2 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), which implemented the EU Directive 2014/24/EU into UK law. Post-Brexit, the same concept is carried forward under the Procurement Act 2023.

What a CPB Does

A CPB typically performs one or more of the following centralised purchasing activities:

• Wholesale purchasing – acquiring supplies, services or works intended for other contracting authorities
• Framework agreements – setting up frameworks that other contracting authorities can call off
• Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) – establishing and managing DPS for use by other bodies

Call-off contracts under a CPB-established framework are exempt from full OJEU/Find a Tender Service advertising requirements, provided the original framework was itself compliantly procured.

UK Examples

Prominent UK CPBs include:

• Crown Commercial Service (CCS) – the government's primary CPB, managing commercial agreements across central government and the wider public sector
• NHS Shared Business Services
• Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO)
• ESPO (Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation)

Local authorities, NHS trusts, universities and other contracting authorities can access CPB agreements without running their own full procurement, saving time and administrative cost.

Legal Basis

Under Regulation 37 of PCR 2015, contracting authorities may procure works, supplies or services using a CPB without themselves following the full procurement procedure, as long as the CPB has complied with the regulations in establishing the arrangement. The Procurement Act 2023 (in force from 24 February 2025) retains the CPB concept and introduces a new framework of "framework authorities" under a broadly similar model.

Practical Considerations

Using a CPB does not eliminate all procurement obligations. Contracting authorities must still:

• Confirm their requirement genuinely falls within the scope of the CPB agreement
• Run any required mini-competition or direct award process correctly
• Maintain their own record-keeping and transparency obligations

Relying on a CPB framework without verifying scope compliance remains a common audit finding.