§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what subsistence payments are payable to service men and women carrying out duties in the United Kingdom away from their base. [50040]
§ Mr. IngramService personnel who incur extra expense for food or accommodation while on temporary or detached duty in the UK are reimbursed via range of UK subsistence allowances. In the first instance, every effort is made to accommodate personnel in service messes where food and accommodation costs are paid direct by the Ministry of Defence. If service accommodation is used, £1.50 per 24-hour period can be claimed for incidental expenses.
If service accommodation is unavailable, the preferred option is to arrange hotel B&B accommodation through MOD's Central Hotel Booking Service (CHBS) that make bookings within a set cost ceiling. Personnel can also book hotel accommodation direct and are then entitled to claim the cost up to a set ceiling of £50 per night. Personnel staying in a hotel may claim a total of £22.90 per 24-hour period to cover additional costs incurred for lunch, dinner and travel, and incidental expenses such as telephone calls or laundry. Alternatively, personnel may choose to stay with family or friends and claim £27.90 per 24-hour period to cover food, and other expenses.
If no overnight accommodation is required and service messing is not available, then a daily subsistence rate of £4.25 for over five hours and £9.30 for over 10 hours can be claimed for meals. This range of subsistence 939W allowances is designed for periods of up to 30 days after which a different set of accommodation allowances are normally used.