In response to an unprecedented recruitment crisis, an emergency pay boost of up to 25% of salary has been introduced by the Ministry of Justice.
This is a recruitment and retention allowance representing a 25% increase for High Court judges and a 15% increase for Circuit and Upper Tribunal judges, but the extra money will not go to judges at the level where solicitors are most likely to be found - District and First-Tier Tribunal judges will receive only a 2% pay rise. It has been stressed that the allowance is only temporary until a solution is found to the recruitment problem.
About a quarter of the 1,850 salaried judges will be affected and around 60 will qualify for the 25% allowance.
At present, more than 10% of High Court positions are vacant with the Chancery Division being 20% below strength and – if recruitment is not more successful – by the end of the year the figure will have doubled to 40% below strength.
The Ministry of Justice have said that the new figures will ‘strike a balance between an appropriate investment of public funds and addressing serious recruitment and retention problems’. This is despite the new figures being below those recommended last year by the Senior Salaries Review Body in its government-commissioned report, which found that changes to tax and pensions mean that the total remuneration for a new High Court judge is worth £80,000 less than it was ten years ago - showing a 36% decrease.
David Gauke - Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary - said:
“Our judges are a cornerstone of our democratic society - their experience draws billions of pounds worth of business to the UK, and without them people cannot get justice. 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.
Judges are in a unique position and once they join the bench are not permitted to return to practice. Without the best legal minds in these seats, everyone that uses our courts will suffer, as will our international reputation. 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.”
Lord Burnett of Maldon - the Lord Chief Justice together with Sir Ernest Ryder - Senior President of Tribunals - welcomed the announcement.
They said:
“It is an important step which we are confident will have a significant effect on addressing critical shortages in the judiciary.
Judges understand very well how delays to the cases they decide can affect the people and businesses involved. They do their utmost to ensure cases are dealt with both promptly and fairly, but are nonetheless concerned that there is an urgent need to recruit enough judges to tackle the workload in a sustainable way.
Judges are conscious that they are well-paid compared to most in the public sector. They are continually finding ways to make the administration of justice more efficient both through the modernisation programme being run by HM Courts & Tribunals Service and more widely. We are pleased that the government is taking action to address the serious difficulties faced in recruiting to the judiciary.”
