ILR In Person - Spouse not Attending?

I called and attempted to book an appointment at the Croydon PEO office today for 1 March for my straight forward ILR application. The person I spoke to said that they have only been receiving last minute appointment openings for Croydon recently, and the only appointment she could offer me was Liverpool. (There was nothing online available at any of the PEO offices, either.)

My husband and I live in Kent, so travelling to Liverpool is going to be enough of a cost for me, let alone having my husband come along and miss a day of work as well.

I've seen on the Home Office website that if he "can't" come along, he just needs to submit a supporting letter. I think we'll plan on going down this route. I was just wondering if this will jeopardize our application in any way?

We have solid evidence of cohabitation and finances are all in order, but I don't want it to look suspicious if he doesn't attend.

Any experience/advice on this? Should we just bite the bullet and have him take the day off and also book an additional £50 train ticket?

If he is unable to go with you then that is why that option is available to have him supply a letter stating why he cannot attend (whether it be due to work commitments or such) and that he fully supports your application.

Why would they offer that option and then treat you negatively because of it? That doesn't make sense at all. If it wasn't an option that they wanted to be used, they wouldn't offer it to begin with.

I suppose I ask because he can technically attend - it is more of a convenience/cost issue for us.