HC Deb 16 January 1995 vol 252 cc331-3W
Mr. Pickthall

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is(a) the attendance allowance, (b) the car mileage allowance and (c) the subsistence allowance for current members of each local police authority.

Mr. Maclean

Existing police authorities are part of the local government structure. Attendance allowances for councillors are a matter for the authorities concerned and information about payments in respect of police authorities is not held centrally.

The car mileage allowance is at present:

Capacity Rate (pence per mile)
Not exceeding 999cc 22.0
1000 to 1199cc 23.9
Over 1199cc 26.6

The subsistence allowance is at present:

(£)
Overnight absence—London 78.50
Overnight absence—Elsewhere 68.80
Day subsistence—over 12 hours 10.00
Day subsistence—over 8 hours 8.60
Day subsistence—over 4 hours 4.00

Mr. Pickthall

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate for the total cost in England and Wales for 1994–95 of(a) attendance allowance, (b) car mileage allowances and (c) subsistence allowance for the current local police authorities.

Mr. Maclean

Existing police authorities are part of the local government structure. Information is not collected centrally about planned expenditure by individual police authorities on these items.

Mr. Pickthall

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is(a) the attendance allowance, (b) the car mileage allowance and (c) the subsistence allowance for members of the new police authorities.

Mr. Maclean

There is. attendance allowance as such for members of new police authorities. Councillor and independent members may claim £15 per hour while working on police authority business, up to a limit of £l20 per day and £3,000 per year. Magistrate members may claim a financial loss allowances of up to:

  • £24.72–£32.96 for the self-employed—for up to four hours
  • £49.95–£65.92 for the self-employed—for over four hours and up to 24 hours.

The car mileage allowance for all members is at present:

Capacity Rate (pence per mile)
Up to 1100 cc 22.8
1101 to 1400 cc 29.0
over 1401 cc 26.6

These rates apply to the first 5,000 miles claimed by a member in the financial year. Thereafter a standard rate of 12.1 pence per mile will be paid.

The subsistence allowance for all members is at present:

(£)
Overnight absence—London 81.60
Overnight absence—Elsewhere 71.50
Day subsistence—over 12 hours 10.70
Day subsistence—over 8 hours 9.15
Day subsistence—over 4 hours 5.35

Mr. Pickthall

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate for the total cost in England and Wales in 1995–96 of(a) attendance allowance, (b) car mileage allowance and (c) subsistence allowance for the new police authorities.

Mr. Maclean

The allowances paid to councillor and independent members of new police authorities depend on the amount of work they undertake on behalf of the authority. If all members undertake sufficient work to claim the maximum amount of allowances available, the total expenditure would be £1,863,000 in a financial year.

Magistrate members of new police authorities may claim a financial loss allowance, and the total expenditure will depend on the amount of their loss.

The expenditure on car mileage and subsistence allowance will depend on the way individual authorities conduct their business. Information is not available centrally about their plans for expenditure on these items.