The Police Regulations 1995

PART V ALLOWANCES AND OTHER EMOLUMENTS

Restriction on payment of allowances

50.—(1) No allowances shall be paid to a member of a police force except as provided by these Regulations or approved by the Secretary of State, and the amounts and conditions of payment of such allowances shall be as so provided or approved.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), nothing in this regulation shall apply to the reimbursement of expenses incurred by a member of a police force in the execution of his duty, being expenses authorised either generally or specifically by the police authority in respect of which no allowance is payable under these Regulations.

(3) A member of a police force of the rank of superintendent or above who is required to travel by train in the execution of his duty shall be entitled to travel in first-class accommodation and to be reimbursed his expenses accordingly.

Restriction on payments for private employment of police

51.  Without prejudice to the generality of regulation 50, a member of a police force who is engaged on duty at the request of any person who has agreed to pay the police authority or, in the case of a member of the metropolitan police force, the Receiver for the metropolitan police district for the member’s services shall not be entitled to any payment for those services except as provided by these Regulations; and any payments made in pursuance of that agreement shall be made by that person to the police authority or to the Receiver for the metropolitan police district, as the case may be.

Removal allowance

52.—(1) Where a member of the police force moves his home in circumstances to which this paragraph applies, the police authority—

(a) shall either reimburse the reasonably incurred cost of removal or carry out the removal;

(b) shall, where the member was the owner of his former home, reimburse expenses reasonably incurred by him in connection with the disposal thereof;

(c) shall, where the member is the owner of his new home, reimburse expenses reasonably incurred by him in connection with the acquisition thereof if—

(i) he was the owner of his former home, or

(ii) the police authority, after consulting the chief officer of police, are satisfied that he could neither have been provided with a suitable house or quarters nor have been reasonably expected to find suitable rented accommodation within a reasonable distance of his normal place of duty,

so, however, that where the police authority are of opinion that the member could have acquired a suitable home for a consideration less than that actually paid, they may restrict the reimbursement of expenses directly related to the consideration paid by him to expenses which would have been reasonably incurred had he paid that lesser consideration;

(d) shall reimburse the member payments made by him to meet relevant liabilities in respect of the first 26 weeks following the move and may, if they think fit, reimburse him such payments in respect of such further period as they may determine so, however, that where the police authority are of opinion that the member has not taken all reasonable steps to reduce or terminate his liability to make such payments as aforesaid they may restrict the reimbursement to payments which the member would have been liable to make had he taken all such steps.

(2) Paragraph (1) applies where the member moves his home—

(a) on joining the force in the rank of assistant chief constable or a higher rank; or

(b) except as a consequence of joining the force otherwise than on being statutorily transferred thereto, and the removal is, in the opinion of the chief officer of police, due to the exigencies of police duty or is made at the request of the chief officer of police and is, in his opinion, in the interests of the efficiency of the force.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(d) relevant liabilities are—

(a) liabilities in respect of mortgage interest or rent payable in connection with his former home; and

(b) in respect of any days in respect of which he is liable to pay council tax in respect of his former home, the amount by which that tax and any council tax he is liable to pay in respect of his new home exceeds the council tax that he would have been liable to pay in respect of his former home if he had not moved from it.

(4) Where a member of a police force moves his home in consequence of his voluntarily transferring from one force to another, otherwise than in circumstances to which paragraph (2) applies, the police authority of the force to which he transfers—

(a) may either reimburse the reasonable cost of removal or carry out the removal;

(b) may, in the circumstances mentioned in paragraph (1)(b), reimburse the expenses there mentioned;

(c) may, in the circumstances and subject to the conditions mentioned in paragraph (1)(c), reimburse the expenses there mentioned;

(d) may, subject to the conditions mentioned in paragraph (1)(d), reimburse the expenses there mentioned.

(5) Where the cost of removal is reimbursed or the removal is carried out by the police authority under paragraph (1) or (4), then, subject to paragraph (6), in respect of expenditure incidental to the move the police authority shall pay the member an allowance of the amount hereinafter provided.

(6) An allowance under paragraph (5)—

(a) shall not be payable, where a member who has never been married moves from furnished accommodation;

(b) shall only be payable if the chief officer of police so decides, where a member moves from unfurnished into furnished accommodation.

(7) In the case of a member who—

(a) moves into furnished accommodation; or

(b) moves into unfurnished accommodation but has not previously, while a member of a police force, lived in such accommodation,

the amount of the allowance under paragraph (5) shall be £20.

(8) In the case of any other member the amount of the allowance under paragraph (5) shall not exceed £1,315 nor be less than the minimum amount mentioned in paragraph (9) but, subject as aforesaid, shall equal the aggregate of the following amounts—

(a) the amount of the expenditure incidental to the move reasonably incurred by the member, and

(b) where he satisfies the police authority that, in consequence of the move, he has failed to benefit, in whole or in part, from expenditure reasonably incurred by him prior to the move (other than such payments as are referred to in paragraph (1)(d)), the whole or the proportionate part of that expenditure so far as it is not recoverable by him.

(9) The minimum amount referred to in paragraph (8) shall be—

(a) where the member holds, or is transferring to be appointed in, a rank higher than that of superintendent, such amount as may be determined by the police authority;

(b) where he holds, or is transferring to be appointed in, the rank of superintendent, £129;

(c) where he holds, or is transferring to be appointed in, the rank of inspector or chief inspector, £102;

(d) where he holds, or is transferring to be appointed in, any rank lower than inspector, £82.

(10) Where a member of a police force has been requested by the chief officer of police, in the interests of the efficiency of the force, to move his home, and—

(a) the member has, in consequence, in connection with the contemplated disposal of his home and acquisition of a new home, incurred any expenses; and

(b) he would, if he had moved his home, have been reimbursed those expenses by the police authority in pursuance of paragraph (1)(b) or (c); but

(c) in consequence of a subsequent decision of the chief officer of police, the member does not in fact move his home,

he shall be entitled, notwithstanding that he has not moved his home, to be reimbursed those expenses by the police authority.

(11) In this regulation—

(a) any reference to an owner of any property is a reference to an occupier thereof whose interest therein is either a freehold interest or a leasehold interest which is neither a yearly or shorter tenancy nor a furnished tenancy, and

(b) any reference to expenses incurred in connection with the disposal or acquisition of any property shall be construed as including, in particular, estate agent's, auctioneer’s and solicitor’s fees, stamp duty and expenses in connection with the redemption, transfer or taking out of a mortgage; and any reference to expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition of any property shall be construed as also including expenses in connection with the contemplated acquisition of a property other than that acquired.

Plain clothes allowances

53.—(1) A member of a police force below the rank of assistant chief constable who is required for a continuous period of not less than a week to do duty in plain clothes shall be paid a plain clothes allowance at such annual rate as shall be determined by the Secretary of State.

(2) A member of a police force below the rank of superintendent who is required to perform duties in plain clothes for not less than 40 hours in the aggregate in any period of 6 months shall, subject to paragraph (3), be paid a plain clothes allowance in respect of such duties at such hourly rate as shall be determined by the Secretary of State.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) and the calculation of the aggregate duration of the duties there referred to—

(a) where the duties were performed on an occasion falling within such a continuous period of plain clothes duty as is mentioned in paragraph (1), no account shall be taken of those duties;

(b) where the duties performed on any occasion lasted less than 4 complete hours, no account shall be taken of those duties;

(c) where the duties performed on any occasion lasted for a completed number of hours and a fraction of an hour, no account shall be taken of that fraction.

(4) Notwithstanding anything in paragraph (1) or (2), where a member of a police force is provided with overalls when doing duty in plain clothes or for any other reason is, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, put to substantially less or substantially more than the normal expense caused by wearing his own clothes, a plain clothes allowance payable to him under paragraph (1) or (2) shall be payable not at the rate determined under the paragraph in question but at such rate as may be approved by the Secretary of State having regard to the circumstances of the case.

Detective expenses allowance

54.—(1) This regulation applies in the case of a member of a police force who is assigned, for a period of not less than a week, to detective duty and, while so assigned, is, in the opinion of the chief officer of police, usually engaged in outside duty.

(2) Such a member of the rank of superintendent shall be paid a detective expenses allowance at the rate of £5 a week; and shall not be eligible for the reimbursement of expenses incurred in the execution of his duty in respect of any individual item of expenditure of £1.25 or less.

(3) Such a member below the rank of superintendent shall be paid a detective expenses allowance at the rate of £3 a week; and shall not be eligible for the reimbursement of expenses incurred in the execution of his duty in respect of any individual item of expenditure of 75 pence or less.

Subsistence, refreshment and lodging allowances

55.—(1) A member of a police force of or below the rank of superintendent who, having been retained on duty beyond his normal daily period of duty or engaged on duty away from his usual place of duty, certifies that, by reason of being so retained or engaged, he has been unable to obtain a meal in his usual way and that, as a consequence thereof, he has incurred additional expenditure to obtain food, shall—

(a) if the period for which he is so retained or engaged is not less than 2 hours but does not exceed 5 hours, be paid a refreshment allowance;

(b) if the period for which he is so retained or engaged exceeds 5 hours, be paid a subsistence allowance.

(2) A member of a police force of or below the rank of superintendent who, having been retained on duty beyond his normal daily period of duty or engaged on duty away from his usual place of duty, certifies that he has incurred additional expense for the purpose of obtaining lodging which he would not have required if he had not been so retained or engaged shall be paid a lodging allowance.

(3) A member of a police force of or below the rank of superintendent who satisfies the chief officer of police that during his normal daily period of duty he has, though not away from his usual place of duty, been prevented by the exigencies of duty from obtaining a meal in his usual way and that he has, as a consequence thereof, incurred additional expenditure to obtain food, may be paid a refreshment allowance.

(4) For the purposes of this regulation “usual place of duty”means—

(a) in the case of a member of the rank of superintendent, the divisional or sub-divisional headquarters or other police establishment, or

(b) in the case of a member below the rank of superintendent, the police station or other police establishment,

in which the member is stationed or, where such place of duty has been temporarily changed, and after such period from the date of change as the chief officer of police may determine, in which he is temporarily stationed, as the case may be.

(5) A subsistence, refreshment or lodging allowance payable under the foregoing provisions of this regulation shall be of an amount determined in accordance with Schedule 8.

(6) A member of a police force above the rank of superintendent may be paid an allowance, at such annual rate as is determined by the police authority, to cover additional expenditure incurred by him in obtaining food and lodging by reason of the exigencies of duty.

Advances to cover expenses when away on duty

56.  Where a member of a police force of or below the rank of chief inspector is required to do duty away from his usual place of duty he shall, if he so requests, be given an advance to cover, as far as practicable, any expenses which he will probably incur.

Motor vehicle allowances

57.—(1) Where the chief officer of police is of opinion that the duties normally performed by a member of a police force are of such a nature that it is—

(a) essential, or

(b) desirable,

that the member in question should, at all material times, have a motor vehicle at his disposal, he may authorise that member to use (subject to his directions) a motor vehicle owned by the member for the purposes of duties performed by him and, subject as hereinafter provided, in respect of such use the member shall be paid a motor vehicle allowance.

(2) A motor vehicle allowance shall not be payable in respect of the authorised use of a motor vehicle unless there was in force in relation thereto a policy of insurance in terms approved by the police authority, in relation to the use in question, for the purposes thereof.

(3) A motor vehicle allowance shall not be payable in respect of the authorised use of a motor car of a cylinder capacity exceeding 500 c.c. unless the member concerned was willing to carry passengers for the purposes of the duties performed by him or, in the case of passengers being members of a police force, by those members.

(4) A motor vehicle allowance in respect of the authorised use of a motor car of a cylinder capacity exceeding 500 c.c. shall, subject as aforesaid, be payable—

(a) where the chief officer of police is of the opinion mentioned in paragraph (1)(a), at the essential user’s rate;

(b) where the chief officer of police is of the opinion mentioned in paragraph (1)(b), at the casual user’s rate,

as provided in Schedule 9:

• Provided that where the member concerned holds a rank above that of superintendent he may instead be paid a flat-rate motor vehicle allowance at such annual rate as is determined by the police authority on such basis as is approved by the Secretary of State.

(5) A motor vehicle allowance in respect of the authorised use of—

(a) a motor car of a cylinder capacity not exceeding 500 c.c., or

(b) a motor bicycle,

shall, subject as aforesaid, be payable on such conditions and at such rate as is approved by the Secretary of State.

(6) In its application to a chief officer of police this regulation shall have effect as if any reference therein to that officer were a reference to the police authority.

(7) Paragraph 1 of Schedule 9 shall have effect for the purposes of the interpretation of this regulation.

Dog handler’s allowance

58.—(1) Where a dog owned by the police authority is kept and cared for by a member of a police force at his home, the member shall be paid a dog handler’s allowance in respect of the care accorded to the dog on the member’s rest days and on public holidays.

(2) A dog handler’s allowance shall be of an amount determined in accordance with Schedule 10.

(3) For the purposes of this regulation and of Schedule 10 a member of a police force shall be treated as keeping and caring for a dog at his home if he would be so doing but for his being on annual leave.

Allowance in respect of medical charges

59.—(1) A member of a police force, if the charges are incurred by reason of an injury received without his default in the execution of his duty as a constable, shall be reimbursed any charges incurred in his case under section 77, 78 or 79 of the National Health Service Act 1977(1)(which sections relate to charges for certain drugs, medicines and appliances and for dental treatment).

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) “injury”and “injury received in the execution of duty”have the same meanings as they have in the Police Pensions Regulations.

London allowance

60.  A member of the City of London or metropolitan police force shall be paid a London allowance at the rate of £1,011 a year.

Allowance for recurring escort duty, etc.

61.  An allowance may be paid, of such amount and under such conditions as may be approved by the Secretary of State on the recommendation of the police authority, in respect of recurring escort duty or other specific duties involving recurring retention on duty beyond the normal daily period and not covered by any other payment.

Continuance of allowances when member ill

62.  If a member of a police force who is regularly in receipt of a plain clothes allowance, detective expenses allowance or any allowance to meet an expense which ceases during his or her absence from duty is placed upon the sick list or is on maternity leave, the allowance shall be payable during his or her absence from duty up to a period of a month, but thereafter, during the remainder of his or her absence from duty, payment may be suspended at the discretion of the chief officer of police.

Allowances in respect of periods of suspension

63.  This Part of these Regulations shall have effect in relation to a member of a police force suspended under the Discipline Regulations, subject to the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Schedule 7.

University scholars

64.  This Part of these Regulations shall have effect in relation to a university scholar subject to the provisions of paragraph 4 of Schedule 5.

Allowance under regulation 59 of the Police Regulations 1971

65.  Where immediately before 1st September 1978 a member of a police force, other than the City of London or metropolitan police force, was entitled to an allowance under regulation 59 of the Police Regulations 1971(2)he shall be entitled to an allowance as follows—

(a) in the case of an inspector or chief inspector, at the rate of £50 a year;

(b) in the case of a sergeant or constable, at the rate of £72 a year;

while he remains a member of that force.

(1)

1977 c. 49; sections 78 and 79 were amended by the Health and Medicines Act 1988 (c. 49), section 11, Schedule 2, paragraph 5 and Schedule 3.

(2)

S.I. 1971/156; regulation 59 was revoked by S.I. 1978/1169.