Agenda item

Draft Organisational Policies - Mileage and Related Travel Expenses.

Minutes:

Committee considered a reportwhich provided information on the recently revised Mileage and Related Travel Expenses Policy.

 

The policy had been previously considered and approved by Strategic Alliance Management Team (SAMT) and from 14th August 2019 had been subject to consultation with the trade unions and service managers.  The revised policy document superseded any previous mileage and related travel expenses policies or procedures in place at BDC.

 

The Human Resources and OD Manager advised Committee that upgrades to HR21 were being arranged to ensure the system was fit for purpose in relation to the details as set out in the revised policy document.  Briefing sessions with practical demonstrations would be set up to enable staff to use the system after the upgrade and there would also be access to the system via an ‘app’ on work mobile phones.

 

A Unison representative advised the meeting of various concerns raised by Unison members regarding the revised policy and also by some managers with regard to the increased administrative burden when in their view there was no legal requirement for the documents to be produced and no reason to doubt that staff would adhere to the relevant laws.  The Human Resources and OD Manager replied that professional advice had been taken from relevant Council teams that a requirement for staff to evidence insurance/MOT documents would protect both management and employees.  With regard to business mileage claims and where it was not possible to take the shortest route due to road diversions or adverse weather conditions, paragraph 2 of Part 10 of the revised policy outlined that these instances were required to be appropriately identified on a claim form and authorised by an employees’ line manager prior to submitting the claim.  The Human Resources and OD Manager added that a review could be carried out in 6 to twelve months’ time to see if the administration of the policy was having a significant effect on Managers’ time.  The Unison representative requested that for clarity and consistency, paragraph 2 of Part 10 should clearly apply to the first bullet point in Part 3 of the policy.

 

The Chair suggested further clarity to the wording in the 5th bullet point of Part 1 of the policy as highlighted in bold below;

 

·         Employees must provide the following details sufficient and reasonable detail on a mileage claim form

 

o   Date of journey

o   Start location

o   Locations visited

o   End location

o   Reason for the journey

o   Total business mileage incurred

 

The Unison representative noted that the revised policy did not meet current HMRC guidance on what qualified as an employee’s usual workplace for the day and provided the meeting with an example of a scenario which would result in some members of staff receiving less mileage expenses than with the previous policy.  The Human Resources and OD Manager replied that the revised policy related to all staff contracts of employment where a normal place of work would be considered as any location within the District or a Council site.  However, it would be slightly different depending on whether the member of staff was a joint officer or not and also whether a journey was within the District or outside of the District.  Using the same example provided by the Unison representative, a Joint officer travelling from home e.g., (Sheffield) to a meeting in Derby would deduct the mileage from home to Mill Lane (which would be the nearest place of work to the officer’s home) and claim the mileage from Mill Lane to Derby. 

 

The Joint Strategic Director – People, noted the Unison representative’s concern and suggested further wording be added to the policy for clarity.

 

The Unison representative requested that the Council remained with the Bolsover policy of using the shortest distance rather than the deduction of commute.  The changes had the potential to reduce the mileage that could be claimed by staff compared with the current policy and there was nothing to suggest the current policy was unlawful.  The Human Resources and OD Manager replied that the Council needed to show that it was not paying employees commuter mileage and the revised policy left no doubt as to what employees could claim.

 

The Unison representative noted that he had further points to raise with regard to the revised policy but could address these outside of the meeting.  The Chair suggested that the roll out of the policy take place after the briefing sessions had taken place which would provide time for the Unison representative’s further points to be addressed.

 

The Human Resources and OD Manager noted that if approved, the policy would be presented to Council in November for approval and would be presented as set out at this meeting along with the suggested amendments.  The policy would then be rolled out and briefing sessions would take place after approval by Council.

 

A Member suggested that a review on how the policy was working be carried out in 6 months’ time.

 

Moved by Christopher McKinney and seconded by Councillor Mary Dooley

RESOLVED BY MEMBERS that (1) subject to the following amendments, UECC support the Mileage and Related Travel Expenses Policy;

 

(i)            paragraph 2 of Part 10 shall clearly apply to the first bullet point in Part 3 of the policy;

 

(ii)          wording in the 5th bullet point of Part 1 of the policy as highlighted in bold below;

 

Employees must provide the following details sufficient and reasonable detail on a mileage claim form

 

(2) that the revised Mileage and Related Travel Expenses Policy be rolled out after the briefing sessions had taken place.

 

(3) a review on how the policy was working be carried out in 6 months’ time.

 

(Human Resources and OD Manager)

 

Kevin Shillitto (Unison) voted against the recommendation and the Chair did not cast a vote.  Accordingly, the UNION side REJECTED the recommendation.

 

Supporting documents: