Travel and expenses policy

Telephone and office allowances

Employees may be entitled to have telephone and office allowances if:

they are contractually a homeworker

This does not apply to working from home as part of smarter working.

Entitlements must reimburse employees for expenditure properly incurred in the course of their duties.

Where we provide mobile telephones for reasons outside this scheme, the same provisions will apply for personal use. For example, due to health and safety, lone working etc.

Office allowances

We will make provision within a band of 3 and 4.5 square metres. This is the estimated maximum and minimum space required to accommodate an employee.

The employee's manager will determine how much space is needed depending on the requirements of the job. This will take into account health and safety needs.

Rates

The rate applied in each case will depend on:

the amount of space required for safe storage
the use of work materials and equipment

Space required	Rate applied
3 square metres	£475.46 per annum
3.5 square metres	£554.70 per annum
4 square metres	£633.95 per annum
4.5 square metres	£713.19 per annum

Where office allowance is to be paid the line manager must complete the allowance section on either:

the Notification of Appointment Form if a new employee, or an Allowance and Salary Amendment Form if a current employee

Telephone allowances

Where a decision has been made to provide a telephone, it will be within the following options:

a telephone line in the employee's home. They can use this for business purposes only. We will reimburse the cost of line rental and calls.
a mobile phone. They can use this for personal calls within the arrangements specified by the Director of Resources. For more details, read:
- G32 Mobile Phones – Health and Safety Advice
- G32 Use of Mobile Phones and other devices whilst driving
Where a work phone is not considered necessary, we will reimburse the cost of business calls on an employee's own phone.

Smarter working homeworking equipment allowance

We will offer up to £100 per person every three years to purchase office equipment for use at home for example:

smaller (non-standard) desk
lamps
blinds
heaters or fans
costs of additional broadband (including set up)

Employees should not make a claim until they have received and checked the item.

When claiming Home Equipment Expenses refer to ‘How employees with access to Business World can enter variable pay

Employees should submit the claim on time and ensure a copy of the receipt is provided to their line manager to approve by the required Expenses deadline

Appendix 1 – VAT Receipt – Non-VAT Receipt Table

Employees are required to upload a receipt for all expenses incurred as detailed in this policy. Please see table below as to whether a VAT or Non-VAT receipt needs to accompany your claim.

Expense Type	Type of Receipt	Comments
Accommodation	VAT Receipt
Air Fare	Non-VAT Receipt	VAT receipts are not required for air, bus, rail or Tube fares, because these types of passenger transport are zero‑rated for VAT
Bus Fare	Non-VAT Receipt
Rail Fare	Non-VAT Receipt
Tube Fare	Non-VAT Receipt
Bicycle Mileage	No receipt required	Must keep detail of each journey, start and end address, distance travelled and reason for journey
Breakfast	VAT Receipt
Car parking - Non-VAT	Non-VAT Receipt	For charges of £25 or less on a single transaction value Parking on public roads, managed by a local authority through meters or pay-and-display, is considered a non-business, statutory activity and is outside the scope of VAT
Car Parking - VAT	VAT Receipt	The total charge for a single parking supply is over £25
Evening Meal	VAT Receipt
Eye Test	Non-VAT Receipt	Schools Only
Fuel Reimbursement	VAT Receipt
Line Rental	VAT Receipt
Lunch	VAT Receipt
Mileage	VAT Receipt
Mileage - Specific Rate	VAT Receipt
Mileage - Specific Rate Taxable	VAT Receipt
Monthly Mileage Summary (Lease Cars)	VAT Receipt
Motorcycle Mileage	VAT Receipt
Other Expenses	Depends
Passenger Mileage Taxable	VAT Receipt
Postage	Depends	VAT receipt not required - Royal Mail Stamps VAT receipt required - Courier Services -
Professional Fees/Subs	VAT Receipt
Subsistence	Depends	VAT receipt required: * as the Council reimburses actual costs for meals * where VAT has been charged
Taxi	Depends	Only if the Taxi Firm is VAT registered
Tea	VAT Receipt	No VAT receipt required for office supplies of tea/milk, VAT receipt required for Catering/Hospitality Tea
Telephone Calls	VAT Receipt
Toll	Depends	Tolls are subject to VAT at the standard rate if a private sector operator Toll charges outside the scope of VAT: Cleddan Bridge, Clifton Suspension Bridge, Erskine Bridge, Forth Bridge, Humber Bridge, Itchen Bridge, Mersey Tunnel, Tamar Bridge, Tay Bridge, Tyne Tunnel

Appendix 2 - Mileage Claim Table

This table helps determine when to apply the Lesser Rule versus when to deduct normal commute mileage.

Scenario	Apply Lesser Rule?	Deduct Normal Commute?	Mileage to be claimed
Travel directly from home to a temporary workplace	✔ Yes	✖ No	Claim the lesser of: home → temporary workplace OR normal workplace → temporary workplace
Travel from normal workplace to a temporary workplace	✖ No	✖ No	Claim full mileage between workplaces (no deduction needed)
Travel from home to normal workplace and then to temporary workplace	✖ No	✔ Yes	Deduct home → normal workplace mileage from total miles.
Travel from temporary workplace to normal workplace and then home	✖ No	✔ Yes	Deduct normal commute mileage from total miles. If the route effectively replaces the normal commute, the deduction ensures employees do not gain a financial advantage for what would otherwise be personal travel.
Multiple journeys in a day (including normal commute)	✖ No	✔ Yes	Deduct home → normal workplace return mileage from total daily mileage. If the day includes both normal commuting and business travel, the standard commute mileage is deducted first.
Travel directly from home to a temporary workplace and then home	✔ Yes	✖ No	Apply lesser rule for outward journey; return journey is claimable in full.

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