Judges await verdict from ministers on large pay rise

MINISTERS could block a proposed £60,000 pay rise for judges amid claims that the increase, which would boost some salaries by almost a third, is too high.

A Government-commissioned report said High Court judges should be paid far more because of low morale and recruitment problems, but critics have questioned why judges should get such a large salary increase when other public servants, including in the police and ambulance services, are struggling with the same problems.

The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) was tasked by ministers to carry out a review of pay and conditions in 2016, and sent its report to the Government last month.

In it, the experts recommended that the top judges should receive about £60,000 more per year for their work.

Whitehall sources suggested, however, that such a pay rise would probably be too high, adding that the recommendations have not yet been properly assessed.

The report recommends the gross pay of a High Court judge should rise from £181,500 to £240,000 a year (a 32 per cent increase), and the pay of a circuit judge to £165,000 (a 22 per cent increase). District judges should be paid 8 per cent more, the report said, putting them on £117,000 a year.

The findings, which were leaked to the Daily Mail, state that a combination of long and stressful hours, and tax changes to pension schemes for high earners, had led to a recruitment crisis.

However, a rise on the scale recommended in the SSRB’S review could infuriate other public sector workers.

Angela Rayner, a Labour MP, wrote on Twitter: “Up to 32 per cent pay rise for senior judges because they have ‘low morale’ and their pensions have changed. I support increased pay for public servants – can teachers, nurses, firefighters, council staff, police, Armed Forces and other public service workers have such a rise?”