General Overview of the Act Part 1 .The Social Partnership Council Section 9 – Public procurement subgroup
35.This section requires the SPC to take all reasonable steps to establish a specific subgroup concerned with public procurement within six months of section 9(1) coming into force. It further requires that the Welsh Ministers specify and publish the quorum for the public procurement subgroup meetings, produce guidance to which the SPC must have regard when appointing members including guidance for the purpose of ensuring its membership is appropriately representative and the procedures to be followed during meetings.
36.The section also sets out specific matters which the procedures to be published by the Welsh Ministers must deal with, these are the same as those covered in the procedures which are specified and published in relation to the full SPC. The procedures for the subgroup can be revised in the same way as SPC procedures. The intention, as with the SPC, is to balance consistency with flexibility.
37.As with other subgroups, the members of the public procurement subgroup may consist of both members from the SPC and other individuals but must be chaired by a member of the SPC.