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Chief Officer Team expenses, hospitality and use of corporate cards
Contents
Policy statement .......................................................................................................................... 2
Principles ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Corporate card expenditure ................................................................................................ 2
Hospitality ............................................................................................................................ 3
Hotel expenses .................................................................................................................... 3
Subsistence .......................................................................................................................... 3
Expenses relating to partners .............................................................................................. 4
Corporate cardholder responsibilities ........................................................................................ 4
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Policy statement
Summary
All West Yorkshire Police employees need to ensure all expenditure is
appropriate, transparent and justifiable.
For these reasons the Force must ensure that:
• expenditure is maintained at a reasonable and acceptable level;
• the inappropriate use of public funds is avoided at all times;
• all expenditure is consistent with the Code of Ethics.
This policy outlines the criteria that the Chief Officer Team, staff officers and
secretariat support need to adhere to in respect of the following:
• the use of the corporate cards provided by West Yorkshire Police;
• hospitality;
• hotel expenses and subsistence; and
• expenses relating to spouses and long term partners.
Scope
This policy applies to the Chief Officer Team, staff officers and secretariat
support.
Principles
Definitions
West Yorkshire Police will use the following definitions in this policy:
Type
Corporate card
Hospitality
Partners
Definition
Commercially provided charge cards provided to the
Chief Officer Team and supporting staff.
Provision of light refreshments, meals and beverages,
on occasions attended by guests of the Force and
hosted by members of the Chief Officer Team at public
expense.
This refers to spouses and partners of members of the
Chief Officer Team.
Corporate card expenditure
Card use
Corporate cards are provided by West Yorkshire Police. There is no
definitive list of what should or should not be paid for using them but
generally they must only be used to meet the costs relating to:
• subsistence;
• travel;
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• hospitality; and
• other associated expenses that are an appropriate charge to the Force.
Any expense covered by this policy may be met using a corporate card
without reference to the budget holder, unless otherwise stipulated. If
there is any doubt, then the Office of the Chief Constable should be
consulted.
Authorisation
Monthly statements must be properly authorised and a full and clear
explanation of the expenditure given. The full VAT receipt must be provided
in all instances cards are used.
If there is any doubt, then the Office of the Chief Constable should be
consulted.
Budgets
The expenditure will be allocated to either the:
• Office of the Chief Constable budget; or
• Force budget.
Hospitality
Principles
This Gifts and hospitality policy applies to hospitality provided by the Chief
Officer Team. This includes events held in the Headquarter’s Oak Room.
Hotel expenses
Principles
Accommodation bookings will be made through the Force’s Contract
Booking Service, whenever possible, in accordance with the Meal and
accommodation expenses policy.
However, if the use of a specific hotel is necessary, e.g. when attending an
NPCC conference or undertaking national or regional responsibilities, then
that hotel cost will be met. The rationale for this must be stated on the
expenses claim or corporate card pro forma.
Subsistence
Principles
Subsistence claims must be made in accordance with the Meal and
accommodation expenses policy unless there are extenuating circumstances
when these levels may be exceeded. The rationale for this must be stated
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on the expenses claim or corporate card pro forma.
Expenses relating to partners
Principles
In certain circumstances, it may be operationally appropriate for members of
the Chief Officer Team to be accompanied by their partners when hosting
guests of the Force or attending events within and outside the Force area.
In these circumstances, it is appropriate for the costs associated with the
hospitality, hotel or travel to be met by West Yorkshire Police.
Corporate cardholder responsibilities
Use
Corporate cards should not be used:
• to circumvent normal Force procurement practices unless there are clear
operational or financial reasons for doing so; or
• for personal expenditure unless it is unavoidable. In such cases, on receipt
of the corporate card statement, the individual must ensure payment is
made to cover the expenditure and a rationale for the use is provided.
On receipt of
card statement
Corporate cardholders will each be given an individual statement every
month and are responsible for:
• Completing the appropriate pro forma (obtained from the Chief Officer
Team’s Business Support Officer) regarding their expenditure.
• Returning it with the statement together with VAT receipt.
• Arranging payment for any personal expenditure:
o in cash or cheque to the Business Support Officer; or
o card payment over the telephone to Payment and Revenues Section.
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Policy database administration
Item
Details
Chief Officer Team expenses, hospitality and
Document title:
use of corporate cards
Finance and Business Support
Owner:
Insp Paul Rushton
Author / Reviewer:
21/02/2017
Date of last review:
Date of next review:
21/02/2019
The Equality and Human Rights Assessment for this policy is held on Force
Registry which can be accessed via this link.
The table below details revision information relating to this document:
Topic title
Date
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