Collaboration Agreements

Sections 22A to 23I of Police Act 1996 (as amended) (the Act) sets out the provisions under which collaboration agreements may be made by police forces and local poling bodies (PCC’s), as a means of achieving more efficient and effective delivery of policing services. Such and agreement is known as a Police Force Collaboration Agreement (PFCA).

The Chief Officer can only enter into such an agreement with the approval of the PCC and where it is in the interests of the efficiency or effectiveness.

Section 23A of the Act enables two or more PCCs to make an Agreement about the provision of joint support services. “Support” includes the provision of premises, equipment, staff and facilities.

The PCC has entered into the following police force collaboration agreements with the PCCs and Chief Constables from Yorkshire and the Humber

Agreement for the Provision of Policing Services in Yorkshire and the Humber – March 2014

In the interest of efficiency and effective policing the PCCs and Chief Constables in Yorkshire and the Humber have entered into an Agreement based on a Lead Force model for the better performance of police functions to be delivered collaboratively across the Region for which the Chief Constables have policing responsibility and for which the PCCs are responsible to their communities.

Collaboration Agreement for the Provision of a Regional Procurement Service – March 2014

The PCCs and Chief Constables in Yorkshire and the Humber have entered into a Functional Collaboration Agreement for the provision of a Regional Procurement Function with South Yorkshire Police acting as the Lead Force. The parties share the opinion and belief that this Agreement is in the interests of the efficiency and effectiveness of their respective Forces.

Scientific Support Functional Collaboration Agreement – [Original Agreement March 2014] – Updated February 2021

The PCCs and Chief Constables in Yorkshire and the Humber have entered into a Functional Collaboration Agreement for the provision of Scientific Support Function for the Region with West Yorkshire Police acting as Lead Force. The parties share the opinion and belief that this Agreement is in the interests of the efficiency and effectiveness of their respective Forces.

Odyssey Functional Collaboration Agreement – February 2015

The PCCs and Chief Constables in Yorkshire and the Humber have entered into a Functional Collaboration Agreement for the provision of the Odyssey Function¹ with West Yorkshire Police acting as the Lead Force. The parties share the opinion and belief that this Agreement is in the interests of the efficiency and effectiveness of their respective Forces.

¹Operation Odyssey provides investigative and specialist support to officers across the forces of Humberside, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire

Regional Prison Intelligence Unit Functional Collaboration Agreement – February 2016

The PCCs and Chief Constables in Yorkshire and the Humber have entered into a Functional Collaboration Agreement for the provision of a Regional Prison Intelligence Unit function for the Region with West Yorkshire Police acting as Lead Force. The parties share the opinion and belief that this Agreement is in the interests of the efficiency and effectiveness of their respective Forces.

The PCC has entered into the following collaboration agreements with the PCCs and Chief Constables from Yorkshire and the Humber, Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria (the National Police Chief Council (NPCC) North East Region)

National Police Chiefs’ Council No.2 (North East) Region Police Collaboration Agreement – February 2016

The NPCC No.2 Region has agreed to work together in accordance with their relevant statutory powers and duties. The PCCs and Chief Constables have determined that the making of this Collaboration Agreements is in the interests of the efficiency or effectiveness of their respective forces.

Police Collaboration Agreement for the Provision of a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Function – February 2016

A number and variety of collaborative arrangements for the delivery of policing services are already in place nationally and across the NPCC NE Region. On behalf of the Region, as part of responsibilities under an agreed lead force model, North Yorkshire Police has undertaken a review of the two services of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) and the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) aspect of the wider Civil Contingencies response. From this review, outline business cases for these service responses have been formally approved by the Region’s Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners. A single Section 22A Agreement (as amended) between all seven forces in the Region is required to form the legal basis for collaborative working.

This agreement provides a single, overarching legal agreement for the entirety of the NPCC NE Regions seven policing services, and other partners, for collaboration. Two sub-functional Agreements for CBRN and DVI will follow. As joint working progresses individual sub-functional service agreements may be added to this overarching agreement rather than requiring a new Section 22A Agreement (as amended) each time.

Due to the nature of this collaboration, the Police and Crime Commissioner is only publishing the title and objective of this agreement.

Police Collaboration Agreement for the Provision of a Disaster Victim Identification Function – February 2016

Due to the nature of this collaboration, the Police and Crime Commissioner is only publishing the title and objective of this agreement.

Regional Police Collaboration Agreement for a single Dedicated Source Unit for the North East Counter Terrorism Unit – June 2018

In October 2016, the Chief Officers of the seven regional police forces (Cleveland, Durham, Humberside, Northumbria, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire) agreed to create a single Dedicated Source Unit (DSU) for the north east region and to create a regional authorising officer post to provide authorities on all covert human intelligence sources (CHIS).

Due to the nature of this collaboration, the Police and Crime Commissioner is only publishing the title and objective of this agreement.

Provision of Digital Forensics Services by North East Counter Terrorism Unit – April 2018

Further to the North East forces regional collaboration agreement, these forces have now signed a further sub-functional agreement in relation to Digital Forensics for the purposes of ISO accreditation. There are no legal, financial or operational issues in relation to the agreement.

The PCC has entered into the following police collaboration agreement with the PCCs and Chief Constables of all geographic forces within England and Wales

National Police Collaboration Agreement in relation to the setting up of a co-ordinating body known as the National Police Chiefs’ Council – March 2015 (Supplemented January 2018)

The National Police Collaboration Agreement sets out how police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners will collaborate and coordinate nationally and help establish the National Police Chief’s Council based on the agreement of Chief Constables, Police and Crime Commissioners and the Home Secretary.

Provision of Armed Police from the Civil Nuclear Authority – November 2015

All Home Office Police Forces have been requested to enter into a formal collaboration agreement with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). The CNC is an armed police service responsible for the protection of civil nuclear material at sites across the UK. Their officers have the full powers of a Constable at licensed sites and 5 kilometres beyond the boundary and anywhere whilst escorting nuclear material. The purpose of the Agreement is to provide a lawful basis for the CNC to assist Home Office Police Forces when authorised to do so, as a simple alternative to the Energy Act 2004.

Due to the nature of this collaboration, the Police and Crime Commissioner is only publishing the title and objective of this agreement.

Police Force Collaboration Agreement for the National Police Co-ordination Centre (NPoCC) – April 2016

The Parties have agreed to collaborate with each other in relation to the running, the carrying out of the functions, the funding and the establishment of NPoCC.

NABIS (National Ballistics Intelligence Service) Collaboration Agreement – March 2017

Establishment of the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (“NABIS”)

Due to the nature of this collaboration, the Police and Crime Commissioner is only publishing the title and objective of this agreement.

ACRO Criminal Records Office Section 22A Police Force Collaboration Agreement – June 2017

The management of criminal records is a national service that has been carried out by ACRO, as part of Hampshire Constabulary since 2014. To help formalise this arrangement, a national S.22 collaboration agreement (as amended) has been developed to provide governance for this service provision.

Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) Authorisation – November 2017

The NPCC has agreed to implement a national collaboration agreement to support CHIS (covert human intelligence sources) authorisation for the purposes of counter terrorism and combating domestic extremism which was signed by agreed by the Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable.

Due to the nature of this collaboration, the Police and Crime Commissioner is only publishing the title and objective of this agreement.

Forensic Collision Investigation Network (FCIN) Section 22A Legal Agreement – November 2020

The Forensic Collision Investigation Network (FCIN) have finalised the S22a legal agreement that details the collaborative model, hosted by North Wales Police. The Commissioner and Chief Constable agreed to sign this agreement to formalise the national agreement and begin the journey to become part of the FCIN and achieve ISO 17020 accreditation in Forensic Collision Investigation by October 2022.

National Police Co-ordination Centre – November 2021

The National Police Co-ordination Centre will enable operationally independent and locally accountable Chief Officers to co-ordinate national operations on behalf of the Chief Officers in order to protect the public. The Parties have agreed to collaborate with each other in relation to the running, the carrying out of the functions, the funding and the establishment of NPoCC. This replaces the Section 22a signed in July 2015.

A copy of this collaboration agreement is not available online on the grounds that publication could reveal – and therefore undermine the effectiveness of operational tactics. In order to comply with the publication requirements under Section 23e of the Police Act 1996. the Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria is publishing the title and objective of the agreement (as shown above).

The Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Programme 2021-22 – April 2022

This Section 22 collaboration agreement supports a programme of development of the modern slavery agenda taking forward recommendations made in a review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It replaces previous Section 22a agreements for the Modern Slavery Transformation Fund Programme.

The PCC has entered into the following collaboration agreement with the “N8 Universities” (Leeds, Durham, Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York)

N8 Policing Research Partnership – February 2016

The PCC and Chief Constable have agreed to contribute to “N8 Policing Research Partnership Project”.

The PCC has entered into the following collaboration agreement with the National Vehicle Crime (NAVCIS), the National Police Freedom of Information and Data Protection Unit (NPFDU) and the National Wildlife and Crime Unit (NWCU)

Collaboration Agreement relating to National Vehicle Crime (NAVCIS), the National Police Freedom of Information and Data Protection Unit (NPFDU) and the National Wildlife and Crime Unit (NWCU) – October 2018

Following the Parker Review, a number of national policing functions have been embodied in national collaboration agreements to ensure their continuity in a formalised manner. In this particular instance, 3 of those functions – the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, the National Police Freedom of Information and Data Protection Unit and the National Wildlife Service – are to be formalised in a single collaboration agreement.

The PCC has entered into the following collaboration agreement with Forces from the East Midlands (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire)

RIPA Cross Border Collaboration Agreement East Midlands and South Yorkshire – [April 2016] – Updated December 2020

The PCCs and Chief Constables in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire have agreed to enter into a collaboration agreement pursuant to section 22A of the Police Act 1996.

The Parties believe that criminal investigations which overlap the geographical area of two or more police forces can more efficiently and effectively be discharged by the co-operation and collaboration of those police forces. It is believed that such co-operation and collaboration would be enhanced by utilising the arrangements permissible under section 93 of the Police Act 1997 and under Part II of RIPA, to allow for collaboration between the Forces in the manner in which these statutory powers are authorised.

The PCC has entered into the following Emergency Services Collaboration Agreement with the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority

Collaborative working in the provision of Police and Fire Services, Support Functions and Co-location – July 2018

The PCC, Chief Constable and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority have entered into an Agreement for the purposes of exploring and achieving such joint working initiatives relation to the provision of emergency services (including the provision of such facilities, services and equipment as the parties may agree) that are conducive to their interests and the Parties commit to agreeing and applying project management principles to the process of exploring such collaborative opportunities (“the initiatives”).

If you require further information regarding any collaboration agreements, please email [email protected]