Jury Service

[berri]

I've been summonsed for the first time, but I'm now staying at home permanently with our nearly 2year old DS.

Is this reason enough for deferral? I can't seem to find any info online about it, it just says you have to pay for a childminder and redeem the money, or if someone who is not registered looks after him I can pay them £1 a day....

He's currently at nursery one day a week.
Problem is, the nursery would need loads longer than the 6 weeks notice they've given me, plus it's unlikely they'd have the availability for the 2 week period. Also the nursery costs £75 a day which I imagine would be outside the costs you can claim back, and there's no way we could afford to just pay the difference.

At our nursery you also have to pay a deposit up front, so I might pay this and then not even be called - again leaving us massively out of pocket.

I don't think I'd be able to find a childminder in 6 weeks (judging by my local friends' experiences), plus what if it went on for months - I wouldn't be happy to leave him for that long...

Any advice? I'm a bit gutted as I've actually always wanted to do it, but now the timing is just off. I've got no local friends/family who would be able to have him for 2 weeks either.

If anyone has any experience with this stuff I'd be very grateful to hear your views.

I understand your dilemma. I was called for JS when my DS was a similar age (20 years ago!) I did have in place a childminder but of course back then you did not have to jump through hoops about who you left your child with, it worked on personal judgement, I at the memory. I really wanted to attend and my friend childminder was paid very quickly. Anyway, I digress, if you cannot arrange suitable childcare then you can defer. I would phone them up and explain all this, say you want to attend and get them to state what the expense limit is. I have not researched this but I am guessing there isn't one for the simple reason that it would discriminate. For example if you were disabled but of sound mind and needed assistance you could still make a contribution to this process. Therefore a carer could be in attendance. Think Equal Opportunities. If one is not enabled to fulfill the role then the jury cannot truly be said to be representative. If you want to attend then obviously you must be comfortable with the child care arrangements but my point is that if you are able to pay over the market price (which I think you will be) you might be surprised how many places become available. I would love to know the outcome of this!

Ask them whether they have creche facilities.

I had a look on the website and it didn't mention them so I'm presuming not - that'd be the ideal solution though, unless it went on for months of course.

Phone up the Jury Central Summoning Bureau on 0845 803 8003 or 020 7202 6800 and ask if they can suggest a solution.

Thanks v much for the info, will call them tomorrow.

i did it a couple of years ago, i could have got out of it as dd was a baby, ring them up and explain, i found they were very good