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Civil Service Deny 'Free For All' In Clothing Payouts

Civil Service Clothing Payouts

First Posted: 18/02/2012 12:44 GMT Updated: 18/02/2012 12:44 GMT   PA

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Civil servants can receive compensation for clothes damaged at work even if they are to blame, it was claimed today.

The Daily Mail said it had been passed a dossier detailing the sums employees can expect to be reimbursed for based on the original price and the age of garments.

They included, for example, £225 for a £300 woollen suit that was 12 months old, falling to £150 if it was two years old.
A £5 pair of tights that is snagged at work could result in the wearer getting £4.50 back, it was claimed.

But the Cabinet Office denied there was any "free-for-all" on clothes replacements and that compensation was only justified where there was a "reasonable case" for it.

The Civil Service Management Code states that compensation for damaged personal property should only be made where there is "no negligence on the part of the officer".

The Mail reported that it had been handed documents outlining potential claims by a whistleblower who had recently joined the civil service from the private sector.

The whistleblower told the paper: "My jaw hit the floor when I was told about all the perks I would be entitled to. There is no way you would get anything like this in the private sector - companies would go bust and the economy would collapse if you did."

The claims come as Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude is trying to strip out waste in Whitehall while the Government is making cuts in the wider public sector.

But Tory MP Philip Davies said: "The civil service seems to be living in a parallel universe. It just goes to show how much more Whitehall waste the Government can cut," he said.

A TaxPayers' Alliance spokesman said: "It's absurd that civil servants are able to claim taxpayers' money if they ladder their tights at work or wear out their shoes in the course of doing their job."

The Cabinet Office said it did not know how much had been paid out in compensation and had not seen the documents the Mail referred to.

A spokesman said: "There is no free-for-all clothes replacement in the civil service.

"Departments can compensate employees for property damaged at work but only if there's reasonable case for it.

"We are currently reviewing terms and conditions as part of our civil service reform programme, all outdated and obsolete policies are being reformed or scrapped - any abuse is not tolerated."

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Civil servants can receive compensation for clothes damaged at work even if they are to blame, it was claimed today. The Daily Mail said it had been passed a dossier detailing the sums employees ca...
Civil servants can receive compensation for clothes damaged at work even if they are to blame, it was claimed today. The Daily Mail said it had been passed a dossier detailing the sums employees ca...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Michaelxx
34 Fans
12:32 on 21/02/2012
their is no abuse of public money in the public sector...now you have all been told, let that be an end to it..........
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alan king
52 Fans
11:24 on 20/02/2012
think of all these things when the public sector workers are striking because of pensions and pay, for sure they have a very very good pension scheme better, than we could veer expect in the private wages, which match the private sector, And a no pressure job were results are not really important.
And of course the outside consultants they have to use, because they have not got a clue what to do.
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edwarcor
9 Fans
01:54 on 20/02/2012
Isn't it amazing the money it costs to run this country? We have 640+ MP's; countless Scottish, Welsh and N.Irish local "MP's", along with, again, countless councillors and civil servants etc ALL able to claim various "expenses"! Oh! and that's not counting their pensions! ALL that is except poor old PAYE Joe Bloggs who has to cover going to his place of employment AND returning home out of his net pay! Then we have 43 police constabularies within England and Wales alone, each with numerous Chief Constables, Deputy Chief Constables, Assistant Chief Constables etc, etc (I think you get my drift) ALL claiming various "expenses" and pensions. We also send millions of pounds in "aid" to countries that, in general, hate us or do not really "need" the cash, plus more millions into the coffers of the EU!!! Perhaps, just perhaps, we're getting only what we deserve for allowing it to happen and doing nothing about it???
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mancsue
1 Fans
23:19 on 19/02/2012
This is a distraction, what the Daily Mail should highlight is the number of "consultants " employed by all Government departments who do the same job as civil servants but get paid a lot more and are paid through Ltd companies thus avoiding tax and national insurance.
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PROF1966
4 Fans
22:23 on 19/02/2012
HOW MANY MORE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ARE GOING TO BE CHARGED WITH FIDDLING THEIR EXPENSES?
FUNNY I DID HEAR FROM DAVID CAMERON THAT ALL THE LOCAL COUNCILLORS IN THE
UNITED KINGDOM WERE GOING TO HAVE THEIR EXPENSES LOOKED AT, NO RESPONSE AS YET FROM THE MEDIA OR HAVE THEY GONE TO SLEEP ALSO?
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PROF1966
4 Fans
22:15 on 19/02/2012
HIP HIP HOORAY FOR THE WHISTLEBLOWER, A PITY THAT WE CANNOT HAVE MORE
PEOPLE LIKE THIS SENSIBLE HUMAN BEING.
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LonyTilly
14 Fans
22:07 on 19/02/2012
To use the phrase used by Public64 - ''Absolute TRIPE''.
I have just left the CS (redundancy) and the expense rules and amounts are strictly adhered to:

Lipgate5 - bit early for the sherry !!!
''.. there was and is an unwritten list of perks .. '' - RUBBISH.

'' .. items of clothing and equipment wear etc .. '' IF you require clothes for your job (eg safety) then ALL companies have to provide !! If you need to wear a suit everyday then you can try and claim tax relief. BUT all those who screamed years back for a ''no dress code'' got what they wanted AND the taxman is laughing all the way to the bank !!!!!

Equally, sickness and holidays are areas where days off and time-off-i­n-lieu are set to provide the employee with significan­t additional paid leave - no questions asked. BECAUSE THAT is the law whether its CS / Marks Spencer or the corner shop. (How have holidays fallen into that bracket ??)

Travel allowances are better in the civil service than in any other occupation - GARBAGE - CS pays about 10p per mile less than most firms for car expenses. CLASS of travel is linked to your rank / grade and so if you worked hard in your career and rose up the ladder you would get 1st class travel. I used 1st class - what about you ??
(PS Try BA 1st class - awesome!!)
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
chrisctpaul
Things can only get better
19 Fans
22:01 on 19/02/2012
My wife worked for our local council in the past as a secretary and has seen a few under the table actions. In particular when jobs were put out to tender, each company gave a written cost for works, however the job did not always go to the company offering the lowest bid.

The other case of paying council employees overtime, even when paying overtime was very frowned upon there was one or two employees getting overtime payments week in, week out and other employees in the same department never getting offered any overtime!
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jmmcmkn
222 Fans
23:07 on 19/02/2012
chrisctpaul
You said it I know of a case where one of the companies who submitted a tender caught the council employee who they submitted their tender to showing their tender to her boyfriends company ....who just also happend to also be in the running to submit a tender for the same contract .
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mickrobbobmw
0 Fans
21:54 on 19/02/2012
23 years a MOD Firefighter and Civil Servant and never known of anyone getting this. Also 25pence per mile for using my car leaves me out of pocket!!!!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
minimemo
Can I be your friend...if they let me out...
414 Fans
09:44 on 20/02/2012
It's 40p per mile!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jacksdad41
Quant Je Puis
181 Fans
 
10:12 on 20/02/2012
Make a claim to the IR @mick - doesnt matter what your company pays you, you can claim 40p per mile (variable - check with the IR) and I think you can go back 4 years so any mileage you have racked up will get you a nice tax rebate - not commonly known, I found out when I opted out of the company car policy and claim all company mileage plus I get a tax break for a lower emission car depriving HM customs of all that lovely money that they used to snatch off me under a company car scheme.
Permalink  |
thedrainpig
24 Fans
21:52 on 19/02/2012
More bollox from the Daily Fail. Why don't the journalists who work for this xenophobic rag actually get off their fat backsides and do what they are handsomely paid for, rather than just making it up? Or would that be too much hard work for them!

If any department was behaving like this, none that I have ever seen in my experience, the managers could expect to be severely disciplined, or lose their jobs.
Permalink  |
Public64
0 Fans
21:25 on 19/02/2012
Absolute tripe. I have been a Civil Servant for over 20 years and our expenses regime is stricter than Corporate Britain. I have to supply receipts on outgoings and get paid 2/3 of the private sector pay rate for my role. The truth is the victim here.
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pmjk
10 Fans
22:14 on 19/02/2012
Public servants get paid more than in the private sector and get better pensions.
Permalink  |
Public64
0 Fans
21:56 on 20/02/2012
Not true. Do not believe the hype. The majority of public sector workers earn far less than the national average pay levels. That is not to say that there are Private pooly paid individuals in private employment. Lets's not make this a race to the "bottom" of the pay barrel. As for private pensions, since the days of Robert Maxwell private pension funds have been erroded while Public Sector pensions have remained under the same contractual basis.
This is not the nurses, council workers or Civil Servants fault. Let's bring private pensions back to the level they should be. By the way all public servants are taxpayers too.
Permalink  |
Kevinbgs
17 Fans
07:20 on 20/02/2012
and a far better pension paid in part by the TAX PAYER, so don't give me that crap about pay.
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alanfinddlay1
83 Fans
20:31 on 19/02/2012
Of coarse they would deny it. How can the cabinet office deny it then say they have never seen the documents. More whistle blowers please so we can stop this massive government waste.
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rowen wilting
0 Fans
20:29 on 19/02/2012
I've been a civil servant manual for 32 years..all I've ever had were boots that leaked so badly that I bought my own.
The stories don't surprise me though....after the budget cuts we've lost most of the £18,000 per year manual workers But we've still got 32 managers to look after the 20 manual workers that are left!
Only 3 or 4 managers went.....ones that were near retirement anyway....each got a huge payout.
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lipgate5
62 Fans
19:58 on 19/02/2012
Prior to retiring, I spent a few years in the emply of the Civil Service. I can assure you that the whistleblower is spot on and that, further, there was and is an unwritten list of perks that, if not claimed, result in an 'interview'.

It is acceptable that items of clothing and equipment wear and it is suggested that claims are made on a periodic basis to maintain the status quo.

Equally, sickness and holidays are areas where days off and time-off-in-lieu are set to provide the employee with significant additional paid leave - no questions asked.

Travel allowances are better in the civil service than in any other occupation - ie class of travel and fuel allowances for using your own car. This is way above what can be expected in the private world.
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new nan
6 Fans
19:35 on 19/02/2012
You shouldn't believe everything you read-especially if it's in the Mail. I work in a Magistrates' Court and no money has been spent on maintenance for years. While I can't discuss all the disgraceful conditions we have to put up with I will say that the heating and air conditioning in the building is a joke because noone will invest in a new thermostat. The week before last after the snow it was only 8 degrees in my court. It was so cold I had to wear gloves and it was lunchtime before it started to get warm. Then on Friday last it was about 28 degrees which is ridiculously hot and a complete waste of energy. An appalling situation for a government building when they are imposing so many 'green ' taxes on us. They should be putting their own houses in order first.
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