Travel and Subsistence Policy - People, Digital and Policy - Date: April 2009, Updated EBM/ACE: 14 January 2010, 3 January 2023, February 2025 - Reviewed May 2025 - Review Date: April 2028
Excess Travel
37. You will be eligible to make a claim for excess travel costs when you have incurred additional expenditure because your contracted base has been changed by the Authority and additional commuting mileage costs are incurred. This does not apply if you request a change to your base or apply for a job at a different base.
38. You are eligible for excess travel costs from the date of relocation for a maximum period of twelve months or at an earlier date when additional costs are no longer incurred or are reduced e.g. if you move closer to your new base. Should a house move mean that further mileage will be incurred then the Authority will not reimburse additional travel costs.
39. Only additional actual expenditure will be reimbursed i.e. the journey must be undertaken by you. This will be the difference in the cost of travelling from your home to the old work location and the cost of travelling from your home to the new work location. This is mileage incurred over and above previous travel to work mileage or additional costs incurred if travelling via public transport.
40. In order to qualify to receive excess travel costs you must be required to travel in excess of an additional 5 miles each way (10 miles per day) to a new work location which is further from your home. Casual workers are not able to claim excess travel costs.
41. If you travel to work by car, you will be paid the additional mileage over the shortest route to and from the new work location after the first additional 10 miles per day has been deducted. For example, if you are travelling an additional 25 miles per day (round trip) you can claim additional mileage of 15 miles per day as there is no reimbursement for the first 10 miles. If you choose a route which is longer for the purposes of convenience, then the additional mileage costs incurred as a result of this choice will not be reimbursed.
42. Reimbursement will only be made for actual excess travel costs incurred because of additional travel requirements to and from the new work location. Should two or more employees (who find themselves subject to these arrangements) decide to travel together on any given day then reimbursement will only be made to one employee subject to workplace risk assessment and current government guidance.
43. The additional time spent travelling will not be paid by the Authority.
44. If you work on a peripatetic basis with no contractual base, you are not eligible to claim excess travel costs under this policy.
45. Excess Mileage claims will be paid at the current HMRC rate which applies to all other travelling claims as set out in para. 28.
46. Excess mileage cannot be claimed during any absence from work.
47. You must inform your line manager of any change of circumstances which may impact on their eligibility to claim excess mileage. Any overpayments will be reclaimed in the next available payroll.
48. Line managers are responsible for checking and authorising claims. Advice can be sought from the Employee Services Team if required.
49. If you are temporarily relocated to a new base for a period of one month or less, you are entitled to claim official travel expenses from your substantive base. If you are temporarily relocated for a period of more than one month then Excess Travel payments will apply.
50. Claims are to be made on a monthly / four weekly basis and, if available, via the on-line self-service facility. Should this facility be unavailable then claims should be submitted using the Excess Travel claim form. In accordance with the Authority’s Financial Procedure Rules, claims will only be processed if they are made during the month following the incurring of the expenditure.