Juries: Compensation

(asked on 21st March 2025) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much compensation was provided for (a) childcare, (b) other care, (c) food and drink, (d) travel and (e) parking costs to people on jury duty in real terms in each of the last five years.


Answered by
Sarah Sackman Portrait
Sarah Sackman
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 27th March 2025

Jurors can claim an amount towards loss of earnings and other costs incurred as a direct result of jury service, subject to a daily maximum. They can also claim travel costs and a contribution towards their refreshments.

HMCTS does not collect or collate data specifically on all categories of expenses requested here but can disaggregate certain payments made. Parking charges are incorporated into the travel costs and all types of additional care (e.g. childcare and care of vulnerable adults) are amalgamated. The information available is set out in the following table.

Costs in 2024 prices (using CPI data)

Year

Travel

Food & Drink

Additional Care

2020

£ 3,395,508

£ 2,437,651

£ 199,625

2021

£ 6,906,633

£ 4,468,960

£ 347,862

2022

£ 6,175,245

£ 4,433,536

£ 345,551

2023

£ 6,932,989

£ 5,177,718

£ 361,356

2024

£ 7,170,537

£ 5,227,048

£ 353,180

The expenses covered in the table above represent only a proportion of total expenses paid to jurors each year. For example, in 2024, a total of £36.5 million was paid in juror allowance, including the £12,750,765 set out under the categories requested in the question asked.

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