Councillor Expenses Policy
This policy is written to clarify when and how to claim expenses when carrying out the work of Lea Parish Council.
The aims of the policy are:
To ensure that expenses incurred by Councillors and Clerk are reimbursed in a fair and timely manner. To ensure that costs and expenses are controlled by the Parish Council.
Mileage
The current mileage rate to all Councillors/Clerk using their private car is at the current local government rate up to 10,000 miles in each tax year.
Councillors/Clerk may not claim for mileage incurred on journeys to or from their home to meetings within Lea.
Where there is more than one person travelling to the same venue, unless there are more than 4 people travelling to that venue the use of more than one car will not be authorised, unless special circumstances dictate that this is not practical in which case prior authorisation is required.
Under no circumstances will the Parish Council pay any fines arising out of Road Traffic offences. Councillors/Clerk MUST ensure that their insurance company provides cover for trips made on behalf of the Parish Council.
How to Claim
The ‘Travel Expenses Claim Form’ needs to be completed and passed to the Clerk who will then arrange for the Claim to be authorised at the next Full Council meeting. Payment will be authorised and signed on the Claim Form by two Councillors (not the Councillor making the claim).
Councillors are reminded that they will need to disclose an interest in the Income and Expenditure item on the relevant meeting’s Agenda and may be requested to leave the room whilst this item is discussed.
Claims for any other items by an individual, must be supported by the submission of receipts. The need for this should be kept to a minimum and orders for items place through the RFO, whenever possible.
Employees working from home
The Clerk will be paid mutually agreed expenses for working at home based on the assessment of need.
TRAVEL EXPENSES CLAIM FORM
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Details of claim by (full name) |
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Date expense incurred |
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Venue visited and reason |
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Start mileage |
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End mileage |
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Number of miles claimed |
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Current local government mileage rate. |
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Authorised by:
Name:
Signature
Name
Signature
Details of meeting where claim was agreed (date and agenda number)
Payment reference
Adopted September 2025
Review September 2027