Expenses and allowances

The Home Secretary has laid a written ministerial statement updating PCC pay following recommendations put forward by the senior salaries review board report (SSRB) in 2018. The intention is to ensure that a suitable and proportionate remuneration is achieved for such a challenging and rewarding role.

Striking the right balance on PCC pay is important in terms of attracting suitable candidates, but avoiding extravagance with public money and addressing the fact that force budgets are constrained.

The salary range is adjusted to represent differences in force weighting and policing challenges and has been aligned but is not equal to chief constable salaries. The policing challenges a PCC faces will be different depending on the specific needs and demands of the force area.  In Devon and Cornwall, the salary set for the police and crime commissioner as of May 2022 is £88,600 per annum. 

The purpose of authorised allowances is to reimburse expenses incurred by PCCs in carrying out their duties, not to provide a general gratuity for undertaking the role. The following kinds of allowances can be claimed if reasonably incurred by a PCC in the exercise of their duties:

• travel expenses;
• subsistence expenses;
• exceptional expenses.

The amounts of such allowances determined by the Secretary of State are set out in the below table:

Type of expense	Key restriction	Rates
Train	In course of business	Reimbursed up to standard class rates
Mileage allowances	Only if necessary	As per HMRC rates
Taxis	Only where public transport not available	Cost of taxi fare
Foreign travel	Prior authority from chief executive and for business purposes	Economy class for flights
Hotel accommodation	Business purposes and agreed in advance Value for money and best use of public funds - lower priced suitable accommodation	No explicit limitation on star standard of hotel accommodation
Subsistence (UK and foreign)	Only paid for evening meals and, where applicable, breakfast (not lunch)	Breakfast £10 Dinner £30
Exceptional expenses not falling within any of the other types	Reasonable incurred in carrying out business of the authority	As approved by the chief executive

 

Chief executive approval
The police and crime commissioner's chief executive subjects all of the commissioner's claims for expenses to rigorous verification and auditing.

Any claims for exceptional expenses incurred by the commissioner in the exercise of the commissioner's functions require the approval of the commissioner's chief executive. In considering whether to grant this approval the chief executive takes into account the following factors:

• whether there are exceptional circumstances warranting additional support;
• whether the commissioner could reasonably have been expected to take any action to avoid the circumstances which gave rise to the expenditure or liability;
• whether the commissioner's performance of their commissioner functions will be significantly impaired by a refusal of the claim.

In considering exceptional claims the advice of the remuneration and appointments committee will be sought.

PCCs are required to publish the allowances paid to them and to their deputies in respect of expenses incurred by the commissioner or deputy in the exercise of the Commissioner's functions.

Here you can download a breakdown of the PCC's expenses (Alison Hernandez's term of office)

Senior officer expenses

Here you can download a breakdown of the Chief Executive's Expenses (Frances Hughes).

Here you can download a breakdown of the Treasurer's expenses (Nicola Allen)

Value for money
As part of the transparency rules with which we are legally required to comply, we must provide the reasons why we consider that good value for money has been obtained for items of expenditure relating to travel, accommodation, and subsistence.

Decisions about the attendance of the police and crime commissioner (and senior OPCC officers) at meetings and events are driven by the objectives of the police and crime commissioner's Police and Crime Plan.

To ensure value for money, all individuals within the OPCC are obliged to use the most practical, economic and sustainable method of travel available for journeys to meetings, events etc. and where available, rail and bus passes are used. Taxis are only used when public transport is not available.

Whenever possible, business travel and accommodation is procured by the office in advance through the South West Police Procurement Department Business Travel Framework. (The SWPPD determine the best approach to the market and undertake fair and open tender processes that ensure whole life costing of the contract, and requirements management approaches are applied to determine the best value option for the force and OPCC).

Where it is necessary for the PCC or an OPCC officer to make such purchases relating to travel , accommodation and subsistence themselves, they must provide evidence that shows their choice was the most economic option for the date and time of travel before it will be reimbursed.

The scheme of OPCC allowances and expenditure provides more information about the types of expenditure and rates of reimbursement.

Allowances and reimbursements made to advisors to the PCC
The PCC has a scheme of allowances and reimbursements which aims to recognise the time commitment expected from advisors to enable them to carry out their duties effectively and take account of the public service element of the role.