6:20am Friday 10th July 2009
By Matt Wilkinson
SENIOR Thames Valley Police officers have defended their expense claims, which have been published for the first time.
Receipts show Chief Constable Sara Thornton – who earns £152,343 a year – claimed back £1,877.70, including £135.50 for hiring a dress for herself at a suit for her partner when they attended a state banquet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Queen, at Windsor Castle.
Assistant Chief Constable Brian Langston – on £89,106 a year – claimed back £2,588.55, including £245 to paint his house and a £14.98 mobile phone charger, but also £240 for management training books.
Expenses claims of former Deputy Chief Constable, Alex Marshall, included a £40 memorial wreath laid in tribute to dead police officers, £357.90 on food and a 50p parking ticket.
Assistant Chief Constable Nick Gargan received £1,267.04 on food, parking, travel and accommodation while Deputy Chief Constable Francis Habgood claimed back only £283.94.
Mr Langston said paint was purchased to decorate his home, which is owned by Thames Valley Police Authority and where he has lived for the past 21 years.
He said: “There is always the question of integrity and I always ask myself each time before I claim for expenses, can I justify the use of taxpayers’ money for this?
“If I owned the house then, of course, I would not have claimed for the paint, but it is owned by the Police Authority, which is responsible for the maintenance, consistent with the conditions I was employed under.”
The phone charger ensured he could always be contacted in emergencies and training books were shared with colleagues, he said.
Mr Marshall, who now earns £146,589 as Chief Constable at Hampshire Constabulary, refused to comment on his £2,412.89 expense bill.
But Thames Valley Police spokesman Gayle Rossiter said Mr Marshall believed all his expenses were appropriate and did not think it was unreasonable for the public to pay for meals with colleagues.
A claim for a National Police Memorial Day wreath last June was within regulations, Mrs Rossiter added.
Ms Thornton and Mr Gargan also declined to comment.
Mr Habgood released a statement, saying: “The expenses incurred by chief officers are all incurred as part of work-related activities.
“This includes where an officer or member of staff is required to attend a function in their official capacity.
“In terms of guests at such functions, expenses can be appropriate in certain circumstances where they are incurred because there are specific dress requirements and they are attending as a formal guest in relation to an official function.
“I can confirm the Chief Constable was there in her official capacity with a guest.
“All expenses for chief officers are published openly on our Internet site.”
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