Travel and out of pocket expenses

Transcription

1 Travel and out of pocket expenses Contents 1.0 Policy Statement Procedures Travel Accommodation Subsistence Hospitality Childcare and dependant care costs Personal and business mobile phones Roles Appendix 1: Summary of travel and subsistence rates Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

2 1.0 Policy Statement 1.1 The Big Lottery Fund recognises that employees, agency workers and contractors (where the terms of their contract explicitly detail such) may from time to time be required to travel, stay away from home or incur other out of pocket expenditure whilst undertaking BIG's business. 1.2 BIG will meet these costs of travel and accommodation and reimburse out of pocket expenditure where costs are incurred necessarily, wholly and exclusively whilst engaged on official duties on behalf of BIG, Costs are in accordance with these guidelines, and reimbursement is based either on agreed rates or supported by itemised receipts i.e. the actual costs incurred. 1.3 BIG is a publicly funded organisation and as such all employees should, in undertaking BIG s business, be mindful of the need for ensuring expenditure for travel and out of pocket expenses is appropriate and modest. The Chief Executive, as Accounting Officer, is accountable to Parliament for all BIG s expenditure. All staff should assume that their expenses will be publicly disclosed. 1.4 BIG may refuse to meet any unreasonable expenses or those that could be reasonably avoided. BIG will not reimburse any fixed penalty, or other fines, incurred whilst travelling on BIG's business. If employees consider they will incur novel or contentious expenditure they should seek up front approval from the budget holder and retain documentation of this approval. 1.5 Claims should be made at least monthly, all claims must be submitted within three months of the date of activity. BIG may refuse to meet long overdue claims. 1.6 This policy also applies to travel and expenses that are charged to a procurement card. Where expenses are charged that do not comply with this policy BIG will seek reimbursement. 1.7 At all times in implementing this policy managers will have due regard to the personal safety of staff and the needs of staff with disabilities. Managers will also give due consideration to ensuring that contacts in remote locations receive the same service as those in more accessible locations. 1.8 BIG will not normally reimburse travel between home and normal office. Reimbursement of home to office travel, including out of hours travel, not covered by the relocation policy or by a settlement agreement will be deemed to be a taxable benefit.. Claims for home to office travel should not be entered on Kypera but should be claimed through the payroll. Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

3 1.9 Everyone is encouraged to consider the environmental implications of their travel choices, in line with BIG's sustainable development policies: not travelling is always the greenest option: consider video or telephone conferencing instead walking or cycling is greener, healthier and often at least as quick for short journeys. Walking is actively encouraged for short journeys (up to 30 minutes) and is recognised as a legitimate use of time. train, tube or trams are the best public transport options where these are available and where it is safe and practicable to use buses are greener (and cheaper) than taxis don t ignore them for in town journeys, airport transfers etc if a car or taxi journey is unavoidable always consider if sharing is possible travelling by air is always unfriendly to the environment there must be significant savings of time or money to justify travelling by air, especially within mainland Britain All employees and agency staff who are required to stay away from home overnight are entitled to: bed and breakfast accommodation in an appropriate hotel, or an overnight lodging allowance if they are staying with relatives or friends. Guidance on suitability of hotels is given under the Accommodation heading. The overnight lodging allowance is a taxable allowance and to claim this employees need to complete a claim form and forward to HR for payment through payroll. reimbursement, up to a specified maximum, of out of pocket expenditure on an evening meal or refreshments overnight subsistence allowance to cover telephone calls, newspapers and other incidental costs All employees and agency staff who are required to work away from the office are entitled to reimbursement of out of pocket expenditure on meals and refreshments up to a specified maximum. External contractors can also claim such out of pocket expenditure if it is specified in their contract with BIG although they should claim such expenditure through agreed invoice procedures This policy and the accompanying procedures and guidance form the basis of the PAYE dispensation given by the Inland Revenue. The procedures ensure compliance with BIG's PAYE dispensation, ensuring employees are not taxed on this reimbursement. Where travel and expenses are not covered by the PAYE dispensation BIG will, where possible, make these payments through the payroll so that the benefit is taxed at the time of receipt e.g. childcare expenses and overnight lodging allowance. Where such payments are not made through the payroll BIG will provide the relevant employees with a P11D at the end of each tax year. Employees will be responsible for paying any taxation liability arising from their P11D Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

4 1.13 The Inland Revenue requires that BIG ensure that the contents of this policy and the accompanying procedures and guidance are adhered to. Any infringement of the criteria and conditions may lead to the dispensation being revoked. 2.0 Procedures 2.1 All claims for reimbursement submitted by staff should be via Kypera except for childcare, home to office travel and lodging allowance which need to be claimed through HR and paid via payroll. All claims must be supported with itemised receipts. If a receipt is not available a full description of the nature of the expense and an explanation of why the receipt is not supplied must be provided in the notes field on Kypera and it is line manager s discretion as to whether to approve the expenditure. A claim for childcare expenses must in all circumstances be supported by a receipt. Expenses paid without evidence of a valid receipt may be treated as a taxable benefit by the Inland Revenue. Finance reserves the right to seek additional explanation if details are not recorded. 2.2 All claims need to be released to line managers for approval. By releasing the claim the claimant is declaring that they have actually and necessarily incurred the claimed costs whilst carrying out BIG's official business and that the claim is consistent with the provisions in this policy. If the claimant is claiming mileage they are also certifying they have the appropriate insurance and driving licence. 2.3 All expense claims must be approved by the relevant line manager or budget holder, in accordance with BIG's financial regulations. By releasing the claim the line manager is showing they are content that the costs were incurred whilst undertaking BIG's official business and that the claim is in line with BIG s re-imbursement policy. Line Managers should ensure that they are not approving their own expenses. Line Managers must ensure that hard copies of expense forms with receipts are retained for a period of six years. 2.4 One off claims for under 10 may be claimed through the employee s local office petty cash. Multiple claims ie two or more claims for the same journey/visit or two or more claims within a week are not permitted. 2.5 All claims processed by finance will be settled by BACS transfer directly into the employee s nominated bank account. BACs transfers are made twice a week, normally on Tuesday and Thursday. Finance will process all correctly completed and authorised claims submitted within three days of receipt and payment will be made on the next available payment run. Notification of payment will be sent to employees via internal mail on the day following the payment run. The money will be credited to the bank account two days after the payment run. It is the employee s responsibility to let finance know if they change bank accounts. Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

5 Advances 2.6 An advance can be made to staff in order to enable them to meet out of pocket expenses whilst engaged on official business. All such advances should only be used to cover the costs of expenditure as set out above. Advances must not exceed 50 per day, or 150 per day if hotel bills are to be settled. 2.7 Advances are available to all employees who will incur out of pocket expenditure whilst travelling away from their office on BIG's business apart from staff who hold a procurement card, agency staff or contractors. 2.8 Requests for an advance, which have been authorised by the line manager, should be received by finance at least five working days before the money is required. Advances will be paid by BACS transfer directly into the employee s nominated bank account. Advances cannot be paid out of petty cash. Finance will ensure payment is made on the nearest date to the visit to ensure payment is in the bank as far as possible for the start of the visit. 2.9 Within three working days of return to the office a claim must be submitted via Kypera setting out how the advance has been used. The Line Manager must be provided with all supporting receipts. Finance will not issue a further advance or settle new claims until previous advances are fully accounted for. 3.0 Travel 3.1 Each budget holder should determine local procedures for the approval of UK travel. These procedures should ensure that staff are clear when they may travel on their own authority and when their manager s approval is required after consideration that: the travel is necessary business need including consideration that contacts in remote locations receive the same service as those in more accessible locations the means of travel (rail, air, personal car or car hire) is value for money there is sufficient travel budget to cover these costs Budget holders should ensure that their staff are informed of these arrangements. 3.2 Written approval from the budget holder is required (divisional head or regional manager) before tickets for travel outside the UK but in the EU are purchased, and from the appropriate director before tickets for travel outside the EU can be purchased. Authorisation will again be based on the consideration of business need, value for money and the availability of budget. 3.3 For travel outside the EU a risk assessment must also be completed before tickets for travel are purchased. The health and safety officer will advise on the procedures for Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

6 risk assessment for overseas travel, particularly to hazardous locations. This will ensure that the director approving the travel receives adequate documentation of the risk assessment including Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice, the precautions agreed upon and the informed consent of the staff traveling, prior to approving the travel. BIG's policy in relation to overseas travel is that there is strong presumption that FCO advice will be followed. A compelling case for travel with a robust risk assessment will be required for travel to any location where the FCO advice is against all travel or against travel except on essential business. 3.4 If employees combine their official journey with a private one (e.g. combining a weekend break or annual leave with a journey to another of BIG's offices) they must claim the lower of the actual costs, or the costs that would have been incurred if they were not extending their stay, within the limits of what they would have been entitled to claim if they had only undertaken the official journey. Rail 3.5 Travel of long distances should normally be by standard class by train. All Rail travel should be booked through BIG s service provider Redfern Travel. Travel bookings should only be paid for by procurement card where it is not practical or economic to use Redfern (eg short notice or for tickets costing less than 10). Pre-booking rail travel and reserving seats on trains will enable staff to travel in reasonable comfort. Staff members should seek approval from their director before pre booking to upgrade their seat if they need to work on a crowded train on a long journey and can justify the additional expense. In exceptional circumstances where upgrades become necessary in the course of travel this can be done without pre-approval but must be fully explained when submitting the claim. Directors are subject to the same principle, but may approve their own upgrade where necessary. 3.6 If employees hold a public transport season ticket and all or part of their journey is covered by their season ticket they should only purchase a ticket for the part of their journey not covered by their season ticket and claim reimbursement for the out of pocket expenditure supported by a receipt. They cannot claim reimbursement for journeys taken that are covered by their season ticket. Air 3.7 Air travel should only be used where there is no practicable alternative, or where the saving of time or cost is significant. 3.8 Air travel will be by the cheapest grade (eg economy class) and a director must approve upgrading. Where possible staff should use flights operated by the low-cost carriers. Air travel can be booked through Redfern (by telephone) or alternatively can be booked directly through the internet and payment made using a procurement card. Motor vehicles 3.9 Motor vehicles should only be used after consideration of: Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

7 the nature of the journey and savings in time, for example if more than one location is to be visited the adequacy, reliability and cost of public transport facilities the number of people travelling (car sharing) the nature of documents or equipment being transported physical ability personal safety issues the start and end times of the event There is no requirement for any member of staff to use their personal motor vehicle on BIG's business. If a journey cannot be made by public transport BIG will arrange for use of a hire car. Non-personal car (hire car) 3.11 Employees must hold a valid driving licence. If employees are provided with a hire car they will be reimbursed any out of pocket expenditure. They must retain receipts for fuel or any other expenditure incurred whilst travelling on BIG's business (e.g. tolls, parking, and congestion charge). When completing the expenses form please state that costs were incurred whilst using a hire or pool car Any parking fines, penalties or tickets will not be reimbursed. When booking a hire car, employees must declare any penalty points on their driving licence. Personal vehicles 3.13 Employees must hold a valid driving licence. If the employees use their personal motor vehicle it is their responsibility to ensure they have adequate and appropriate insurance cover. The insurance cover held should meet the following requirements: provide insurance without financial limits, against claim in respect of bodily injury to, or death of, third parties or any passenger and damage to the property of third parties and include a clause permitting the use of the vehicle by the policy holder in connection with their business. Employees should contact their insurance company and advise them of the change of use and the approximate annual business mileage BIG will not reimburse any increase in insurance premium, as this is provided for in the mileage rates. BIG accepts no liability with regard to any failure, on an employee s part, to have the appropriate insurance(s) An employee making a claim on Kypera for mileage allowance will be taken as confirmation that they have a valid driving licence and are properly insured. It is a criminal offence, and will be treated as a serious disciplinary matter if an employee drives on BIG business without proper insurance Employees will be reimbursed for all additional miles undertaken on BIG's business (ie travelling from the normal place of work, or from home if closer). They will not be reimbursed for home to normal office travel and are expected to claim only for those Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

8 miles in excess of any normal home to office mileage ie staff must deduct normal home to office miles. If this part of the journey is normally done by public transport then the total mileage can be claimed.. Employees will also be reimbursed for any other expenditure incurred whilst travelling on BIG's business (e.g. tolls, parking, and congestion charge). Any parking fines, penalties or tickets will not be reimbursed BIG uses the standard rate mileage reimbursement as set by HM Customs and Revenue. This covers fuel, a contribution to other running costs and wear and tear. Motor car Standard rate Up to 10,000 miles 45p per mile Over 10,000 miles (for expenditure incurred after 01/09/2012) 25p per mile Passenger supplement per passenger 4p per mile Motor cycle (for expenditure incurred after 01/09/2012) 24p per mile Bicycle (for expenditure incurred after 01/09/2012) 20p per mile 3.18 If you use your personal vehicle to carry official passengers you may claim a passenger supplement for each passenger Finance will maintain records of the total mileage claimed in each financial year and advise employees when the higher rate limit is reached. Taxis 3.20 Taxis should only be used in the following circumstances: on journeys for which no other suitable means of public transport is available on journeys to connect to suitable public transport e.g. early mornings to a suitable mainline terminal for connection to an airport where heavy or awkward baggage has to be transported locally where the saving of time and costs is significant where travel is required during anti-social hours, i.e. before 7.30am or after 9.00pm personal safety issues physical ability issues If an employee is seeking reimbursement of expenditure receipts must be submitted with the claim form and a brief explanation provided on the claim form as to why a taxi was used BIG will not pay: Taxi gratuities in excess of 10% of the cost of the journey where an early or late departure is a regular feature of the job (if reimbursement of late night taxi travel becomes frequent (more than 40 occasions a year) or regular (a predictable pattern e.g. every Friday night) then the Inland Revenue may identify this as a taxable benefit) Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

9 Bicycles where taxi travel is ordinarily the standard for the journey to work Travelling by bicycle is paid at a flat rate mileage allowance of 20p per mile. 4.0 Accommodation 4.1 For staff required to stay away from home overnight BIG will ensure that they are provided with suitable bed and breakfast accommodation (where possible an en-suite room, equivalent to a 3-star hotel, guideline price maximum of 85 out of London and 125 in London per night). Hotels should be booked through BIG's service provider, Redfern Travel, who can take advantage of government and corporate rates. Bookings should only be made independently if Redfern Travel are unable to make a booking in the location required. Where staff have difficulty sourcing accommodation at the maximum rates they should seek their line manager s approval prior to booking accommodation at a rate that exceeds the guidelines. Overnight (24 hour) incidental allowance 4.2 If employees are required to stay away from home overnight on BIG's business they are entitled to claim the overnight incidental allowance of This is towards incidental costs including newspapers, telephone calls and other expenses of being away from home over a 24-hour period. This allowance does not need to be supported by receipts, and can either be claimed on expenses forms as a fixed sum, or by including items within the limit on hotel bills. Employees are required to settle the bill for any other incidental costs. Incidental costs for business purposes e.g. business telephone calls or fax charges should be claimed in the normal way providing the receipt as evidence of out of pocket expenditure. If employees do not settle their incidentals bill on departure, Finance will reserve the right to seek repayment of costs in excess of 5 per night from them or to offset these costs against the employee s next expenses claim. 4.3 Some hotels are not prepared to invoice BIG and will seek settlement of the bill on departure. Redfern Travel will advise the traveller in advance if this is the case and it is the employee s responsibility to ensure that they can settle the bill. BIG will provide advances to assist in such instances. 4.4 Lodging allowance 4.4 In the event of staff choosing to stay with friends or relatives whilst on official business a flat rate lodging allowance of 32 per night can be claimed. This claim does not have to be supported by receipts. Staff must not claim this allowance via Kypera but should complete a claim form and forward to HR for payment through payroll, as the Inland Revenue deem this is a taxable allowance. Staff must indicate on the form the nature of business including the reason for the overnight stay and the name and address of whom they were staying. If employees claim this allowance they are not Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

10 entitled to claim the cost of an evening meal prior to the overnight stay or breakfast following the overnight stay. 5.0 Subsistence 5.1 Staff who are required to work away from the office may claim actual out of pocket expenditure up to a maximum, as set out in the table below, to cover the cost of subsistence, be it meals or appropriate groceries (ie food to be consumed whilst away from home and office base) in lieu of a restaurant meal. 5.2 Moderate alcohol (1 to 2 units) may be claimed within the cost limits for evening meal subsistence. 5.3 All claims for subsistence reimbursement must be accompanied by itemised receipts. If you do not provide an itemised receipt, you should be aware that line managers have the discretion to refuse authorisation of reimbursement. You should therefore ensure you are able to obtain an itemised receipt prior to making a purchase. 5.4 Staff purchasing an evening meal/groceries because they are unable to return home before 7.30pm: To ensure Inland Revenue compliance, a meal/groceries must be purchased and consumed during the course of a business journey. This means meals/groceries, which includes takeaways, cannot be purchased after a business journey has ended, nor can they be consumed at home However, for convenience and practicality, staff are permitted to purchase and consume meals/groceries prior to the start of a business journey or while waiting between connecting journeys, as long as they are unable to return home before 7.30pm Line managers have the discretion to refuse authorisation of a reimbursement claim if an itemised receipt is not submitted or a claim does not comply with section five of this policy. Therefore, line managers must ensure they check itemised receipts for staff claiming this allowance to ensure compliance with Inland Revenue rules, as described above. 5.5 Lunch subsistence allowance: Lunch for employees at meetings when they are at their normal place of work will not be provided, unless external parties (i.e. non-big employees) are present. Training lunches have a different set of criteria see below. However, employees working from an office/location that is not their normal place of work can buy lunch and be reimbursed up to the maximum lunch subsistence limit of Where staff attend an all-day, in-house training course which include staff from other offices, a range of pre-arranged lunch options will be provided by the training organisers. However, in these circumstances, staff working from an Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

11 office/location that is not their normal place of work will not be permitted to claim a lunch allowance. This is because all subsistence allowances are for reimbursements of actual costs incurred within the specified parameters. Meal (including non-alcoholic refreshments) Breakfast when leaving home before 7.30am. This does not apply to staff on overnight stays (see Accommodation section). Lunch, if away from the office for 5 hours covering the period 12.00pm to 2.00pm In transit refreshments where the journey is in excess of 1 hour during standard working hours Evening meal. Where staff are staying away from home or are unable to return home before 7.30pm Maximum allowable for reimbursement ( in London) Room service charges are an allowable extra to this limit. 5.6 Any expense in excess of these limits should not be claimed. In exceptional circumstances and with a full explanation, your Line Manager, in consultation with the Transactional Services Manager in Finance, will have discretion to approve amounts in excess of these limits. Residential course allowance 5.3 If BIG requires an employee to attend a residential course or conference overnight at which meals are provided they can claim 5 per night towards incidental costs including newspapers, telephone calls and other incidental expenses for being away from home over a 24 hour period. This allowance does not need to be supported by receipts. 6.0 Other out of pocket expenses 6.1 From time to time staff may be required to procure goods or services to support their day to day activities. In all such cases procurement rules as set out in the Financial regulations must be followed. Budget holder approval should be obtained prior to the expenditure and the claimant must code such purchases to the appropriate code. 6.2 Cakes or other treats for staff within the office are not normally allowed as a reimbursable expense and must be at personal cost. This rule can be relaxed in certain specific circumstances and with prior approval by the relevant Director eg to acknowledge a member of staff s retirement or a BIG anniversary. Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

12 6.3 The costs of cards to acknowledge births to staff and partners and deaths of the immediate family of members of staff, illness and exam success can be reimbursed. Any other cards and all gifts are deemed to be recognition of the event by colleagues and should be at personal cost or by taking a collection. 6.4 With authorisation from Finance and HR, an allowance of up to 50 can be used for condolence gifts in unfortunate circumstances, for example the death of a colleague. 7.0 Hospitality 7.1 From time to time it may be appropriate to offer hospitality such as lunch or dinner to external contacts. Hospitality in the course of duty should be used sparingly and, in each case for a specific legitimate business purpose. Hospitality should be modest and appropriate. This includes working lunches as well as other events. The names of those receiving hospitality, their organisations and the reason for the hospitality should be detailed when making a claim. 7.2 It is possible that BIG may have to justify using public money to provide hospitality to guests. The Chief Executive and directors have discretion on the occasions when hospitality should be extended. For all other staff, prior authorisation from the appropriate director must be sought. 7.3 Hospitality can not be claimed for expenditure on restaurant meals solely for BIG staff. If one or more of the staff present is entitled to a subsistence allowance for the meal the person paying may claim that as a contribution, otherwise the meal must be at staff s personal cost. 7.4 The exception to the above is with regard to periodic working dinners involving staff from various locations, or with Board or Committee Members, when meeting outside of normal working hours is the only practical time. In these circumstances, with pre agreed approval from the Chief Executive, costs may exceed normal subsistence limits. In addition a venue charge or minimum charge may be incurred to obtain private space to maintain confidentiality. Expenditure claimed under this heading must be charged to Out of Hours - Working Meals and a list of all attendees must be appended to the claim. 7.5 All hospitality must be subject to moderation. Reimbursement of expenditure on alcohol in excess of 10 per head will require authorisation by the Chief Executive. 8.0 Childcare and dependant care costs 8.1 BIG will reimburse additional out of pocket expenditure on childcare and dependant care where the normal working routine is disrupted due to unavoidable late or early working or overnight stays. Agreement to meet these costs must be agreed in advance by the line manager and HR and must be supported with evidence that the claim relates only to essential additional out of pocket expenses. Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

13 8.2 BIG recognises that personal circumstances will vary. Therefore line managers have the discretion over the maximum level available. BIG will pay such allowances through the payroll for tax and NI purposes. However, BIG will bear the cost of any tax and NI contributions. 8.3 All claims for reimbursement of childcare and dependant care costs must be supported by a receipt from the carer, to confirm payment has been made. 9.0 Personal and business mobile phones 9.1 If an employee is out of the office and needs to make business calls BIG may be able to provide them with a pool mobile phone. If a member of staff regularly uses their personal mobile phone for business purposes they should request a business mobile phone. 9.2 If employees use their home telephone or personal mobile phone to make business calls whilst away from the office BIG will reimburse them the out of pocket expense. This will be the actual cost of the call as shown on their bill, or for non-itemised bills and prepay phones an estimate of the phone call cost up to a maximum of 3 per day. BIG will not reimburse line rental, equipment purchase or contribution to monthly tariffs. Business mobile phones 9.3 If an employee is provided with a mobile phone it is for making and receiving business calls whilst away from the office. Personal use should be kept to a minimum. Finance will issue itemised bills to staff they believe have incurred more than 10 a month in private calls and require them to reimburse the excess. 9.4 Finance will provide an itemised Authorisation bill on request or to all users with high levels of telephone calls. 9.5 Employees must not use their mobile phone whilst driving Roles 10.1 Employees Employees are expected to: use public transport wherever available and it is safe and practicable to do so reimburse BIG for any significant personal of a business mobile phone in line with the itemised bill for the phone concerned prior to any spending, gain authorisation from the appropriate director for any hospitality activity if using their own personal motor vehicle, on company business, it is their responsibility to ensure they have adequate and appropriate insurance cover Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

14 seek approval from their director to upgrade their train seat if they need to work on a crowded train and justify the additional expense submit expense claims via Kypera and, as far as possible, supported expenditure with itemised receipts (apart from 5 overnight subsistence allowance, for which receipts are not required). If a receipt is not available, a full description of the nature of the expense and an explanation of why the receipt is not supplied must be provided Agree the declaration on Kypera and release their claim on-line to their line manager or budget holder in accordance with BIG's financial delegations Provide finance with details of their bank account and any changes to their account Make claims promptly, at least monthly submit claims, not later than three months after the date of expenditure Line managers Line managers are expected to: implement locally agreed approval procedures agree in advance any childcare or dependents care expenses process claims with two weeks of submission authorise on Kypera their staff s claims where these are under 200, ensuring that all expenditure is in line with this policy challenge any costs or claims that are not supported by receipts or do not comply with this policy Budget Holder: Budget holders are expected to: determine local procedures for the approval of UK travel. These procedures should ensure that advance approval is obtained after consideration that: a. the travel is necessary b. the means of travel (rail, air, personal car or car hire) is value for money c. the means of travel is appropriate d. there is sufficient travel budget to cover these costs ensure that their staff are informed of these arrangements give written approval before tickets for travel in the EU are purchased. Authorisation will again be based on the consideration of business need, value for money and the availability of budget authorise travel expenditure on-line over 200, ensuring that costs are in line with BIG's policy Directors Directors are expected to: Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

15 give written approval for travel outside the EU before tickets are purchased. Authorisation will again be based on the consideration of business need, value for money and the availability of budget authorise, or delegate authorisation of, itemised mobile telephone bills authorise, in advance of the spending any hospitality costs. authorise in advance any spending on gifts for staff. The Chief Executive is to approve, in advance, working dinners outside of normal office hours Health and safety Health & Safety are expected to: ensure a risk assessment, for travel outside the EU, is carried out, before tickets for travel are purchased advise on the procedures for risk assessment for overseas travel, particularly to hazardous locations ensure that the director approving travel, outside the EU, receives adequate documentation of the risk assessment including Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice, the precautions agreed upon and the informed consent of the staff traveling, prior to approving the travel HR HR is expected to: advise line mangers of the allowable childcare and dependents care expenses advise claimants on how to claim home to office travel costs and lodging allowances Finance Finance is expected to: provide advice and answer any queries regarding this policy, tax liabilities and current Inland Revenue limits negotiate PAYE dispensation with the Inland Revenue and submit relevant documentation for inclusion on P11D s process all correctly submitted claims within three days of receipt pay authorised expenses into employee s nominated bank accounts notify employee of payment via internal mail on the day following the pay run. Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September

16 Appendix 1: Summary of travel and subsistence guideline rates Mileage reimbursement rates Motor car Up to 10,000 miles Over 10,000 miles Passenger supplement Motor cycle Bicycle Standard rate 45p per mile 25p per mile 4p per passenger 24 p per mile 20p per mile Accommodation rates Bed and breakfast London Out of London Lodging allowance per night 85 per night Subsistence limits Breakfast when leaving home before 7.30am. This does not apply to staff on overnight stays (see accommodation section). Lunch, if away from the office for five hours covering the period 12.00pm to 2.00pm In transit refreshments where the journey is in excess of one hour during standard working hours Evening meal Where staff are staying away from home or are unable to return home before 7.30pm Maximum allowable ( in London) room service charge is an allowable extra Allowances Allowance Overnight (24hour) incidental allowance 5.00 Residential course allowance 5.00 Travel & out of pocket expenses V4 September