Honoraria arrangements
In effect 1 August 2014 – 31 July 2015
Members of committees are eligible to claim honoraria payments for attending meetings
subject to the following rules:
1.
Members must attend 12 meeting days in any one session without payment.
Honoraria will only be paid from the thirteenth attendance. The BMA political
session runs from the end of each ARM to the beginning of the next ARM.
2.
Members will only receive one honoraria payment per day regardless of number of
meetings attended.
3.
Members must be present at the meeting for at least an hour to be eligible to claim
honoraria. This includes attendance via video conferencing or by telephone.
4.
If claimed, which is achieved by signing and ticking the relevant column on the
meeting attendance sheet, payment will automatically be made to members who
attend those committees in the attached list.
5.
For meetings and committees which are not on the list below, attendance must be
approved in advance by the Committee Secretary before honoraria may be
claimed. These meetings are likely to be when you are acting on behalf of the
BMA as a representative of one of the committees listed (in your capacity as a
member of that committee or deputising for the Chair) at formal meetings with
representatives of external organisations and bodies but may also include
significant, pre-arranged meetings with the secretariat. For all of these meetings a
non-standard honoraria claim form (available from the Committee Secretary) must
be completed and claimed within 60 days of the meeting.
6.
Any claims submitted later than 60 days will be referred to the Treasurer and may
not be paid.
7.
Claims cannot be carried over to the next political session.
8.
Unless approved and listed above, payment will not be made in any other
circumstance, this includes: attendance at the ARM; branch of practice
Conferences; meetings of GPC where there is eligibility for honoraria to be
claimed via the GPDF; attendance at local or regional meetings; attendance at
dinners; attendance at lectures; un-planned visits to a BMA office; social and
training events.
9.
A list of the names and amounts of honoraria claimed will be published on the
BMA website each year.
10. All claims must be authorised by the 14th of each month for payment to be made
directly to your bank account on the 28th of each month.
11. All honoraria payments are taxable and will have national insurance deducted
where applicable.
12. Queries regarding authorisation of payment must be made to the Committee
Secretary.
13. The rate of honoraria is set annually by the Oversight and Finance Committee
(currently £250 per day).
The following meetings are eligible for BMA honoraria, although the honoraria process is
currently under review, so please contact your committee secretary for further information:
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ARM Agenda Committee
Armed Forces Committee
Audit Committee
Board of Directors
Board of the BMJ Publishing Group
Board of the Directorate of Professional Activities
Board of Science
Consultants Committee and its subcommittees
Civil and Public Services Committee
Community Care Committee
Council
Equal and Diversity Committee
Forensic Medicine Committee
General Practitioners Committee and its subcommittees where there is no eligibility
for honoraria to be claimed via the GPDF
GMC Working Party
Health Information Management Committee
International Committee
Joint Agenda Committee
Junior Doctors Committee and its subcommittees
Junior Members Forum Executive Committee
Medical Academic Staff Committee and its subcommittees
Medical Ethics Committee
Medico-Legal Committee
Medical Students Committee and its subcommittees
Nominations Committee
Northern Ireland Council and NI branch of practice committees
Occupational Medicine Committee
Ophthalmic Group Committee
Organisation Committee
Oversight and Finance Committee and its subcommittee
Patient Liaison Group
Pensions Committee
Political Board
Private Practice Committee
Professional Fees Committee
Public Health Medicine Committee and its subcommittees
Remuneration Committee
Retired Members’ Forum
Review Body Evidence Committee
Scottish Council and Scottish branch of practice committees
Staff, Associate Specialists and Specialty Doctors Committee and its subcommittees
Supervisory Board of the Secretariat
Welsh Council and Welsh branch of practice committees
Meetings which are NOT eligible for BMA honoraria (please note that this list is not
exhaustive):
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Annual Representative Meeting
General Practitioners’ Committee meetings where there is eligibility for honoraria to
be claimed via the GPDF
Local or regional meetings except for where a central BMA committee has organised
the local meeting (e.g. contract road shows or meetings which a member of a central
committee has been asked to attend in his / her capacity as a member of that central
committee)
Attendance at social events (dinners and luncheons)
Attendance at lectures
Participation in a telephone conference lasting less than one hour
Brief visits to the office (Examples: social visits, short stops to collect post, calling in
on the way to somewhere else)
Short routine phone calls to the office or to other members (Example: calls to check
meeting dates, calls to seek clarification on an issue)
Meetings of external bodies not related to BMA work
Members participating in visitors schemes are NOT eligible for honoraria.