Part 1: Emergency Services Collaboration Chapter 1: Collaboration Agreements Section 4: Collaboration agreements: supplementary
This section sets out in very broad terms what a collaboration agreement might include.
	Subsection (1) provides that the collaboration agreement may make arrangements for the joint exercise of functions or for one party to exercise another party’s functions. This does not confer new powers on the emergency services, but affirms the ability to rely on existing powers to collaborate. For example, if an FRA was of the view that it was in the interests of its efficiency or effectiveness to jointly exercise some of its functions with a police body in England (and that police body considered it was similarly in their interests), there would be a duty on the FRA (and police body) to enter into a collaboration agreement (as per section 2). However, in order to actually give effect to the agreement, and thereby jointly exercise their powers with the police body, the FRA would be expected to rely on its current powers (for example section 16 of the Fire and Rescue Act 2004).
	Subsection (2) provides that each of the services involved in collaboration will be able to make payments for the purposes of the agreement. These may be made between the parties themselves or others. This provision does not amend or affect the existing powers of the services where they already have powers to make payment.
	The section (subsections (3) and (4)) also enables the collaborating parties to take necessary steps to facilitate a collaboration agreement, subject to any existing legal restrictions. The power at subsection (3) relates to the application of existing powers and is an incidental power to facilitate a collaboration agreement, rather than conferring new powers to perform functions. Being involved in a collaboration does not give a service new powers to delegate a function. Nor can a service where it does have the powers to delegate a function absolve itself of responsibility for the exercise of that function. This is made clear by subsections (5) and (6).
	Subsection (7) permits an emergency service to withdraw from a collaboration agreement if it is no longer in the interests of efficiency or effectiveness for them to remain party to that agreement. It requires that local agreements make provision for a party to withdraw. Such provisions are expected to include provision for the financial consequences of withdrawal and any relevant notice period.
	Subsection (8) provides for collaboration agreements to be varied with the agreement of all parties, or replaced by a subsequent agreement. This will enable parties to straightforwardly update existing agreement by agreeing minor changes without the need to introduce a whole new agreement. However, where substantial changes are required, including changing parties to an agreement; a previous agreement can be replaced by a new one. This would again be with the consent of all original parties to the agreement.