Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the price per litre of petrol when the Ministry of Justice set the car travel allowance for jurors at 45 pence per mile; and what plans they have to increase that allowance.

The car travel allowance for jurors is 31.4 pence per mile, with additional allowances available if the car contains other jurors as passengers. It was set at 31.4 pence per mile by the Ministry of Justice when the price of fuel was 121 pence per litre.

There is an additional rate for jurors of 4.2 pence per mile if one other juror is a passenger, with further juror passengers having a rate of 3.2 pence. With 4 juror passengers (additional to the driver), 45.2 pence per mile could be claimed.

The government values jury service as an important civic duty, that should be representative of society. In addition to the car travel allowance, there are other expenses that can be claimed. Information on what can be claimed is available on the gov.uk website and this information is also provided to jurors when they are summoned.