1260
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 36

“Chairman” means the Chairman of the Stores Control Board.
“Deputy Chairman” means the Deputy Chairman of the Stores Control Board.
“Government Department” or “Department” means every Department, office, or branch of the service of the Government of New Zealand which is administered separately.
“Minister” means the Minister of the Crown concerned as Ministerial Head of the Department for which stores are required.
“Permanent Head” means the head or principal administrative officer of any Department.
“Secretary” means the executive officer of the Board and Advisory Committee, who shall act as Secretary and Inspector.
“Stores” means any article of a consumable or a non-consumable nature required in carrying out the services of any Government Department, and may also include unserviceable articles, whether old or new, which may or may not possess a value to a Department. “Stores” also includes books, forms, stationery, office furniture, fittings, mechanical office appliances, motor-cars or other vehicles, and office requisites of every description.

2. For the purpose of controlling the purchase and procuring and the receipt, custody, issue, use, distribution, and disposal of all stores for Government Departments there shall be a Board to be known as the “Stores Control Board.”

3. Such Board shall consist of the Minister of Public Works, who shall be Chairman, and the officers for the time being holding the following official positions:—
   (a.) General Manager of the New Zealand Government Railways.
   (b.) The Secretary to the Treasury.
   (c.) The Under-Secretary, Department of Public Works.
   (d.) The Secretary, Post and Telegraph Department.
   Provided that each of the aforesaid officers may nominate an officer of his Department to act as his deputy.
   Provided further that the Governor-General, by Order in Council, may add to the number of the Board such further officials as may be deemed expedient.

ATTENDANCE AND DEPUTY MEMBERS.

4. Each member of the Board shall be notified in writing by the Secretary of the time and place of meetings of the Board, and shall attend personally at all meetings; provided that in the event of any member being unable to attend at the time and place appointed, then his deputy shall attend and act in his stead.

CHAIRMAN.

5. The Chairman shall be the Minister for the time being holding the portfolio of Public Works.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN.

6. The Board shall elect from among its members a Deputy Chairman, who shall hold office until the end of the financial year in which he is elected. In the absence of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Board. In the absence of both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman the Board may elect one of its members to preside at the particular meeting.

QUORUM.

7. At all meetings of the Board three members shall form a quorum.

VOTING.

8. The decisions of the Board shall be determined by a majority of votes.
   Each member of the Board present at the meeting shall have one vote on any question arising for determination.
   The Chairman or Deputy Chairman when presiding shall have a casting-vote as well as a deliberative vote.

MEETINGS OF THE BOARD.

9. The Board shall meet at such times as may be decided by the Chairman.
   In the absence of the Chairman the Deputy Chairman shall decide the time of such meetings.
   A special meeting of the Board shall be called by the Chairman or, in his absence, by the Deputy Chairman, on receipt of a written request from two members.
   The records of the proceedings of the Board shall be kept by the Secretary in the Board minute-book, and the minutes of each meeting shall be confirmed at the next subsequent meeting of the Board.

OFFICERS.

10. The Public Service Commissioner shall, on request by the Board, appoint a Secretary to the Board, and such other officers as may be considered necessary.

The Secretary shall be the chief executive officer of the Board. He shall attend all meetings of the Board and of the Advisory Committee, and shall have, exercise, and discharge such (if any) other functions, rights, and duties as may be prescribed by the Board.

RECORDS OF THE BOARD.

11. The Secretary shall, as directed by the Board, keep the following records:—
    (1.) The minute-books.
    (2.) The Register of Tenders.
    (3.) Register of Complaints against Contractors.
    (4.) Register of Contracts let.
    (5.) Register of Orders placed by the Purchasing Departments.
    (6.) Such other records as the Board may from time to time direct.

FUNCTION OF THE BOARD.

12. The function of the Board shall be generally to control and supervise the purchase of stores requirements for all Government Departments, and direct such action as may be necessary to ensure that such stores are purchased to the best advantage; to consider representations or recommendations from the Advisory Committee, Departmental Supplies and Tenders Committees (submitted through the Advisory Committee), Government Departments, or any other source, and direct the action to be taken in regard thereto; and in any behalf herein or elsewhere mentioned the Board is vested with full authority to so act.

FUNCTION OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

13. The function of the Advisory Committee shall be to report to the Board on any matters referred to it by the Board for investigation; to submit for the Board’s approval three schedules of stores so classified as to enable the Board to allocate as between the New Zealand Railways Department, the Public Works Department, and the Post and Telegraph Department the function of purchasing such stores; to make suggestions for economy in purchase, use, or distribution of stores; to receive reports and suggestions from Supplies and Tenders Committees; to originate any method or assist in any direction leading to economy in connection with the purchase, use, and distribution of Government stores; and generally to co-ordinate the work of the Purchasing Departments.
    The Advisory Committee is hereby empowered to call for any information desired from any Government Department, and to call for persons and papers.

FUNCTION OF PURCHASING DEPARTMENTS.

14. It shall be the function of each of the three Purchasing Departments to arrange to procure by public tender, the invitation of quotations, or otherwise to the best advantage all stores coming within its schedule that may be required by Government Departments, and to this end any Department requiring stores must submit (in duplicate) to the Stores Officer of the relative Purchasing Department from time to time requisitions of its requirements, specifying the fullest particulars of same, together with estimates of cost and a certificate that Ministerial or Cabinet sanction of the expenditure proposed has been obtained.
    Upon receipt of tenders or quotations, the Supplies and Tenders Committee of the appropriate Purchasing Department shall recommend to the Permanent Head of the requisitioning Department concerned which tender or quotation, if any, should be accepted. The Permanent Head shall then obtain the approval of the Minister in charge of the Department to such acceptance, and thereupon the Purchasing Department shall complete the necessary contract or other documents, or shall arrange with the requisitioning Department to do so, whichever is the more convenient.
    The Purchasing Department shall notify the Board’s Secretary of the letting of every such contract or the placing of every such order, and it shall be the duty of the Department concerned to furnish immediately detailed particulars of the contract or order to the Secretary.
    The Supplies and Tenders Committee of any Purchasing Department is hereby empowered to call upon the services of any departmental officers in connection with requisitions for stores, specifications, estimates, or investigation of tenders and quotations.
    Nothing in these regulations shall prevent any Purchasing Department from procuring stores direct from a manufacturer or through his agent when there is no better alternative source of supply.

FUNCTION OF DISTRICT SUPPLIES AND TENDERS COMMITTEES.

15. District Supplies and Tenders Committees shall perform the same function generally as the Head Office committees of Purchasing Departments, but they shall operate only