Government hikes judicial pay after “unprecedented” recruitment issues

The government has introduced a temporary recruitment and retention allowance of up to 25% following a recruitment crisis that has seen more than 10% of High Court judicial positions remain unfilled.

The impact is already affecting the family courts, where the government said that a shortfall of judges is contributing to significant delays in childcare proceedings.

Following a review by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB), the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) introduced a temporary recruitment and retention allowance of 25% for High Court judges and 15% for Circuit and Upper Tribunal judges who are eligible for the new judicial pension scheme introduced in 2015.

According to Counsel magazine, the effect of the 2015 pension scheme was to reduce take-home pay for more recently appointed judges by £11,000 p.a. compared with those on earlier schemes.

The measure will affect about a quarter of the salaried judiciary and aims to resolve the immediate recruitment issue until a long-term, sustainable, pension-based solution can be implemented for all judges.

The allowance replaces the existing allowance of 11% for High Court judges, but falls some way below the SSRB’s recommendation of a 32% permanent salary increase for High Court judges and 22% for Circuit and Upper Tribunal judges covered by the new pension scheme. “This strikes a balance between an appropriate investment of public funds and addressing serious recruitment and retention problems,” the government said.

The SSRB’s review, submitted last autumn, identified evidence of significant and growing recruitment and retention problems among the judiciary, particularly at senior levels. It found that, by joining the judiciary from private practice, some new judges took a pay cut of up to two-thirds.

The package also includes a 2% pay award for all members of the judiciary in 2019/20.

Lord Chancellor David Gauke said: “We have reached a critical point. There are too many vacancies and with the retirement of many judges looming; we must act now before we see a serious impact on our courts and tribunals. This temporary allowance, pending long-term pension scheme change, will enable us to continue to attract the brightest and best and prevent delays to potentially life-changing decisions.”