Lammy: Tough choices
Lord Chancellor David Lammy has rejected a recommended 3.8% pay award for judges but they will still receive 3.5%, when the government originally said it could only afford 2%.
He told Parliament last week that responding to the report of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) “has required tough choices within the department’s spending plans” – without outlining what they were.
In a busy day for the judiciary on Friday, Mr Lammy and Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr threw their weight behind a new judicial diversity initiative, while he also named his preferred candidate to chair the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).
The SSRB conducts an annual review of salaries for the judiciary, senior civil servants and NHS leaders. It recommended 3.8%, 3.5% and 3% increases respectively, at a cost of £35m, £51m and £25m.
Last year, the then Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, rejected the 4.75% increase recommended by the SSRB and gave 4%. She also tasked the SSRB with conducting a major review of the judicial salary structure to address deeper structural issues. It has yet to conclude.
Friday’s SSRB report said senior members of the judiciary told it that downgrading last year’s recommendation had “a discouraging effect, damaged judicial morale and undermined confidence in the process”.
It went on: “They expressed particular concern that the refusal appeared to be based solely on affordability, rather than engagement with the evidence-based recommendations or the specific pressures facing the judicial labour market.”
The SSRB concluded that the challenges facing the judiciary – “persistent recruitment shortfalls, declining candidate quality, rising workloads and fragile morale” – required action.
Across 2024-25, only 944 of 1,066 vacancies were filled – the real problems are in salaried positions below the High Court, particularly district, employment and First-tier Tribunal judges, who were paid £140,000 in the last financial year.
The SSRB said it considered whether to make targeted recommendations aimed at these areas but decided to leave that for the major review.
It cited JAC assessments showing a “multi-year decline in the proportion of candidates graded ‘outstanding’ (A) or ‘strong’ (B)” in the appointments process.
“Although there is no recorded link between the assessed quality of candidates on selection day and performance in judicial office, the persistent shift from A/B to C (appointable) gradings remains of serious concern.
“It is a warning sign that the talent pipeline to senior judicial office is at risk of erosion.
“This weakening of the talent pipeline has wider implications. It affects not only the overall quality of appointments but also efforts to build a judiciary that is more diverse and representative.”
In his statement to Parliament, Mr Lammy said he shared the SSRB’s concern “over the persistent recruitment and retention issues affecting parts of the judiciary”.
He said: “The major review of the judicial salary structure is the right place to address these issues through targeted reform and presents better value than the flat-rate pay uplift of the annual pay review.”
Separately, Mr Lammy and Baroness Carr announced a new judicial and legal diversity board, which met for the first time on Thursday “to help remove barriers holding talented ethnic minority and other diverse candidates back by improving pathways for progression”.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the board would work with Black and other minority legal professionals, including those from working‑class backgrounds, “to strengthen mentoring and support. It will also continue efforts to make a judicial career more accessible for those in other legal roles, such as solicitors”.
Also represented on the board are the JAC, Bar Council, Law Society, CILEX and Legal Services Board.
The board replaces the judicial diversity forum, which had identical membership, and will continue to work with the five-year strategy published in January.
But the forum was led by the chair of the JAC, while the board is headed jointly by Mr Lammy and Baroness Carr.
An MoJ spokesman said this meant it would be able to initiate change much more quickly.
Mr Lammy’s preferred candidate to chair the JAC is Professor Lynne Berry CBE, current chair of the Human Tissue Authority and chair of governors at Westminster University, a role she will step down from in the summer.
He said the assessment panel considered that, if appointed, she would be “a champion of change”, adding that during her interview, Professor Berry described her leadership style as “measured radicalism”.
However, while the role was advertised for a three-year term, Mr Lammy has offered Professor Berry an initial term of 18 months.
“This will enable her to lead the commission in its response to the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, while working with us on the commission’s long-term strategic direction. Professor Berry supports this approach and I am open to extending her term in future.”
She will next month be subject to pre-appointment scrutiny by the justice select committee.
Mr Lammy and Baroness Carr have also agreed to extend filming in courts to sentencing remarks by the Chief Magistrate and Administrative Court cases.
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