Guidance

Travel and subsistence costs

Updated 28 November 2024

1. Introduction

Following a change to HM Treasury principles and the introduction of The Marine Licensing (Application Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 in September 2018, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is now required to charge applicants for the travel and subsistence costs associated with staff travelling to attend meetings in relation to marine licences. This applies to MMO staff, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) staff and, where appropriate, any MMO contractor required to attend the meeting.

Travel will only be booked and undertaken when all other business alternatives for communication have been explored and where the applicant has agreed to the estimated charge for the associated costs. It should be noted that the final charge for the meeting will be based on actual costs at the time of booking and will be invoiced in arrears in accordance with our standard billing procedures.

2. Travel time

Travel time is chargeable on all official business. Travel will be charged at the relevant hourly rate for the case that the travel relates to with no cap. The actual time spent travelling will be charged, including the time of any delays outside MMOs control.

MMO employees will endeavour to work whilst travelling. Where work undertaken relates to a different case, that time will be charged to the case they are working on and will not be charged as travel time. However, working whilst travelling will not always be possible due to, for example, Health & Safety, privacy/sensitivity and practicality reasons, but any estimate involving travel will be based on the full journey time. MMO employees will only record travel time to a case for the portion of a journey it was not practical to work; in some instances this will be the entire journey but in others the time charged will be less than estimated.

If appropriate, MMO will aim to travel to appointments concurrently; in these instances the costs will be shared between customers. As this cannot be guaranteed, the MMO will always provide estimates based on a single payer. Therefore, in some instances each customer will be provided with a larger estimate than required but each will benefit should any savings be made. In such instances, the MMO can provide a breakdown of the change from estimated costs showing where the saving has been applied.

3. Cancellations

Where a meeting is cancelled at the customer’s request prior to any travel the MMO will not charge any travel time or subsistence costs. Where travel and accommodation costs are refundable there will be no charge to the customer unless cancellation costs are incurred. In all instances, cancellation charges will be passed on.

4. Sustainability

The MMO is committed to adopting travel behaviours that support the Government’s sustainability objectives. Where travel is necessary, sustainability and environmental issues will be taken into consideration when planning meetings and journeys.

5. Class of travel

When required to travel, MMO staff will adhere to the following rules regarding class of travel unless prior approval for a justifiable exception is agreed.

The lowest practical fare/rate should be selected within the permitted class of travel.

6. Air travel - all journeys - all employees

There is a complete ban on first class air travel with no exceptions.

Air travel for journeys of fewer than 5 hours should be via economy class only. For journeys of between 5 hours and 10 hours a business class flight may be purchased where:

• bookings are not available in the lower class and the timing or date of the journey cannot be changed
• if staff are required to work immediately on arrival
• on disability/medical grounds.

For journeys of over 10 hours a business class flight may be purchased subject to approval.

7. Rail travel - all journeys - all employees

All rail travel should be booked as standard class. Any exception will require a robust business justification and prior Director level approval.

This includes international rail journeys by Eurostar and other international and overseas rail operators.

Advance purchase rail tickets should be purchased when possible and staff are strongly advised to book as far ahead as possible in order to obtain the best price. Last minute travel should be avoided as far as business will allow.

8. Car rental

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is the contracted provider for the Defra Network. All hire cars must be booked through Enterprise Rent-A-Car unless there is an exception agreed at Director level.

Car hires can only be used for official business travel and no private travel.

Car hire must be used for any journey over 200 miles as any personal mileage claims will only be reimbursed up to 200 miles.

9. Taxis

Applicable to all employees on all journeys.

Taxi fares should be claimed only where such costs are necessary, for example, journeys where there is no other reasonable alternative method of public transport.

9.1 Hotel rates

Location	Upper limit
London (bed and breakfast)	£130
Bristol	£100
Warrington	£90
Reading	£85
All other UK locations	£75

In line with the Treasury principle of managing by exception, managers or approvers have the discretion to allow increases/decreases to these ceilings where evidence is available to suggest the ceilings are inappropriate.

10. Subsistence

Subsistence may be claimed where the following conditions apply the:

• expense arises from the proper performance of the claimant’s duties
• expense is incurred whilst away from the claimant’s regular place(s) of work or while staying away from home
• expense incurred is reasonable and additional to the employee’s normal expenditure
• claim is fully supported by itemised receipts submitted with the claim so the nature of the expenditure can be verified
• claim is within the limit for each category, as set out below.

Employee subsistence rates	Upper limits
One meal (5 hour) ceiling	£5
Two meal (10 hour) ceiling	£10
Three meal (12 hour) ceiling	£15
24 hour ceiling	£25

The period of absence is defined as the elapsed time from leaving home or normal operating base to return.

These expenses cannot be claimed if:

• a meal or beverage is not purchased
• the meal does not constitute additional expenditure
• the “staying with friends or relatives allowance” is claimed (in which case the 24 hour claim is not allowed)*
• meals have been taken at home
• meals are provided during a training course, conference or similar activity
• meals are provided on the train or plane and included in the ticket cost.

Additionally, alcohol cannot form part of any claim

When staff choose to stay with friends or family while on official business they are entitled to claim a flat rate allowance. The current allowance is £42 per night and will be charged to the applicant.

11. Foreign travel

Foreign Travel and Subsistence claims will be submitted on an actuals basis using the existing HMRC rates as ceilings.

As in the case of domestic travel receipts will be required for all expense claims made.

In line with the Treasury principle of managing by exception, managers or approvers have the discretion to allow increases/decreases to these ceilings where evidence is available to suggest the ceilings are inappropriate.

There should be prior approval for all foreign travel by managers or approvers.