Dumb Allowances

The Times reports on the police equivalent of paying winter fuel allowances to UK citizens who have retired to sunny Spain.

No matter how you slice or dice the arrangement it's a ridiculous waste of public money - like paying someone an inclement weather allowance for working outdoors after they've been transferred to an indoor office-based job.

In other words the payment is designed to compensate for an expense incurred, but just like the Westminster MPs expenses scandal people in high places can justify anything when it suits their purpose. 

Mortgage-free force chief gets home allowance

Sir Stephen House earns £208,000 a year - Demotix Images

By Lucy Holden - The Times

The chief constable of Police Scotland receives thousands of pounds a year to pay for his home despite having paid off his mortgage, it has been revealed.

Sir Stephen House receives £3,000 a year in a housing allowance which is intended to help officers to pay rent or mortgage costs. However, the officer paid off his own mortgage last month.

John Lamont, the Conservative MSP, described the revelation as shocking but Police Scotland said the benefits were part of the pay packet of any officer who joined the force before 1993.

However, the fairness of continuing to pay Sir Stephen, who earns around £208,000 a year, have been questioned. He told The Sunday Herald last year: “My view is that I took the package as offered to me and I’m not about to renegotiate it.”

Mr Lamont suggested the money would be better spent fighting crime and improving public confidence in the police. He said: “It’s shocking that the chief constable is receiving something for nothing at a time when Police Scotland is under severe financial pressure.”

Speaking for Police Scotland, Chief Superintendent Andy Morris said: “Every officer who joined the service prior to 1993 has, as part of their terms and conditions, continued to be paid housing allowances. That payment is not dependent on the officer having a mortgage or not.”