Unknown Teacher

Witnesses

You can claim for yourself and one witness supporter, such as a family member for:

reasonable travel costs and some meals (if attending an in-person hearing)

loss of earnings

We will provide you with a hotel if you need to stay overnight, either before or during the hearing or induction appeal.

Panellists

You can claim:

reasonable travel costs and some meals (if attending an in-person hearing)

loss of earnings

We will provide you with a hotel if you need to stay overnight, either before or during the hearing.

Teacher's who are subject to serious misconduct hearings or an induction appeal

If you’re experiencing serious financial hardship you may be able to claim for reasonable travel costs and some meals (if attending an in-person hearing or induction appeal).

If you need to claim, contact us to discuss your circumstances.

Expenses

Meals (subsistence)

You’ll get a lunch voucher for £6.25 when you arrive that you can use in our on-site canteen.

You can also claim up to:

£6.25 if you’re away for more than 10 hours

£11.00 if you’re away for more than 12 hours

£20.31 if you stay overnight

Your time away includes travel time between your home address and the venue where the hearing or induction appeal is held.

You cannot claim for alcoholic drinks, tipping or service charges.

You must keep all your receipts and submit them with your claim. All meal receipts must:

itemise each item you’re claiming for

have a VAT number

include the date that you purchased the item

Public transport

You can only claim for standard class return tickets, usually by rail, bus or coach. You’ll need to get approval from us before you can book first class travel.

You must keep your tickets and submit them with your claim.

Car or private vehicle

You can claim:

45 pence per mile to and from your home address and the venue where the hearing takes place

for parking charges

toll charges

You must keep your receipts for parking and tolls and submit them with your claim.

Taxis

You can only claim for taxi fares if:

you cannot use public transport because you have a temporary or permanent disability

you have heavy or bulky luggage to carry

You must keep your receipts and submit them with your claim.

Air travel

You can only claim for air travel if:

it’s cheaper overall, for example, if it meant you would not need to stay in a hotel overnight or claim other expenses

you contact us for approval before you book

You must keep your tickets and submit them with your claim.

Accommodation

Please contact TRA.Hearings@education.gov.uk in advance to arrange accommodation.

Hotels will be booked directly by TRA who will find the most suitable hotel (bed and breakfast, 3 star standard or above).

If you wish to book accommodation yourself, a price will need to be agreed with TRA prior to booking.

Other overnight expenditure (incidentals)

You can claim up to £5 if you stay overnight to cover the cost of telephone calls, tipping in restaurants and hotels, Wifi and toiletries. You do not need to provide receipts for these incidental costs.

Home incidental expenditure

For virtual hearings, £5.00 can be claimed per day for household utilities incidentals when joining from home. No receipts or other billing evidence is required. The allowance cannot be claimed for preparation time, or if joining from the workplace.

Loss of earnings

We will pay a flat-rate payment to compensate loss of earnings for panellists and witnesses attending either an in-person hearing or virtual hearing of:

£65 for up to 4 hours

£130 for over 4 hours

You must provide one of the following pieces of evidence to claim:

Payslips and confirmation from employer that paid leave is not granted

Evidence of self-employment such as invoices from showing previous work conducted

Communication with employment agency declaring non-availability

Other evidence of paid employment as discussed, if none of the above

We will also consider claims of up to £65 for loss of earnings for panellists and witnesses attending an in-person hearing if you travel over 4 hours on the day before a hearing.

Supply cover for schools who’ve hired a supply teacher

You can claim up to a maximum of £250 per day if you’ve given a teacher paid leave to attend a TRA hearing as a witness or panellist, either in person or virtually and had to hire a supply teacher to cover them.

You cannot claim for supply cover if the teacher involved is claiming for loss of earnings. If you gave them unpaid leave to attend a TRA hearing as a panellist or witness, then the teacher will need to claim for loss of earnings.

TRA will require the following in order to process this payment:

the school name, full address and details of a contact person

method of paying supply cover (e.g. agency invoice, LA charge, etc)

an invoice billing TRA, giving details of the teacher being covered

In order to receive payments from us, schools or individuals must first register on TRA’s vendor list. Please contact Finance.CSU@education.gov.uk for details.

How to claim

Email ts.expenseclaims@education.gov.uk and request the non-staff expense claim form and guidance.

Once you receive this, register as a vendor at Provide information about your banking and payments to DfE and follow the instructions - it can take up to 15 working days for your vendor account to be set up.

Complete the expense form sent to you in step 1 and return to ts.expenseclaims@education.gov.uk.

You must:

include all relevant evidence

include all receipts

set up a vendor account

Otherwise your payment may be delayed.

Payment

Your claim will be processed within 10 to 30 working days. Your claim will be paid directly into your bank account and you will not receive a remittance advice. We might contact you if we have a query about your expenses.

Contact

Teacher misconduct: claiming expenses

Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA)Expenses Officer, Teacher Misconduct Unit

Cheylesmore House

5 Quinton Road

Coventry

West Midlands

CV1 2WT

Email ts.expenseclaims@education.gov.uk

Contact us if you have any questions about:

whether you’re allowed to claim expenses

which expenses you’re allowed to claim

the claims process