Peers have urged the Ministry of Justice to ease the financial burden of being a juror and pay their costs of doing their civic duty upfront - after it emerged yesterday that jury expenses have not been reviewed since 2010.
Giving evidence on support for jurors yesterday, courts minister Sarah Sackman MP told the House of Lords justice and home affairs committee that jury service expenses have not increased since 2010. The committee heard that two-thirds of the £36.9m spent on jury expenses last year covered financial loss. Jurors are paid a daily rate of £64.95, which rises to £129.91 after 10 days and £228.06 after 200 days. Jurors can claim for financial loss, additional care expenses, and travel and subsistence.
Sackman said no one was suggesting rates have kept up with the cost of living and inflation, and rates will be considered during preparations for the Spending Review. However, she added: ‘We have prioritised within our criminal justice budget lifting the financial limit on sitting days, not least to address the backlog. That was a major financial commitment. And also investing in criminal legal aid to keep these trials going. That’s where we have chosen to put our money to keep the justice going. I just want to be as candid as I can about that.’
Sackman also pointed out that fees in several areas of civil legal aid have not seen an uplift since 1996.
Committee chair Lord Foster of Bath (Donald Michael Ellison Foster) told Sackman that a parent would need to find £700 upfront to cover childcare costs so they could attend a two-week trial that they cannot claim back until after the trial.
Foster urged the ministry to review the payment system as well as the forms that jurors fill in to claim expenses, telling Sackman and HM Couts & Tribunals operations director Daniel Flury that they 'may wish to consider how they are written’.
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