4.39.4 A local authority can still take its own decision on a matter despite having delegated responsibility for that matter to a Joint Committee. This brings the potential for an authority stepping outside the agreed joint arrangements taking an independent decision which causes significant loss to the other partner authorities. In practice, it will therefore always be necessary for each authority to require a binding IAA under which each authority accepts liability to indemnify the other authorities from the financial consequences of such independent decision-making.