UK SBS BLOJEU-CR17061OME SSRB Major Review of the Judicial Salary Structure

Description

The Office of Manpower Economics (OME) provides support for all the independent Pay Review Bodies. In doing so, one of the OME's key functions is to provide high quality research-based technical advice drawing on economic, pay, labour market, statistical and other technical data. The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) is undertaking a Major Review of the judicial salary structure (the Major Review) with the aim of submitting its advice by June 2018. Such reviews occur approximately every five years (the last was in 2010-11) to examine the suitability and soundness of the judicial pay system. 3. The terms of reference for this Major Review, and the SSRB's terms of reference, are at Annex A. The SSRB will consult with an Advisory and Evidence Group (AEG) comprising representatives of different levels and jurisdictions within the UK judiciary and other major stakeholder communities. 4. A key function for the Major Review is to ensure that the numerous judicial roles are appropriately mapped together onto the correct points in the judicial salary scale. Therefore, to support the Major Review, the SSRB has requested that work be commissioned to compare and group judicial roles to assist it in making recommendations in this context. The purpose of this research is to provide the SSRB with a grouping and hierarchy of judicial posts, achieved through the allocation of judicial posts into salary groups. The proposed groups will form the basis for a consultation in the autumn. 6. This project is concerned with defining the appropriate salary groups and not with levels of salary or the salary differentials between the groups. These latter issues will be addressed by the SSRB using alternative sources of evidence. The outcome of this project will be a body of evidence which the SSRB will use to help it to: a. assign judicial posts into appropriate salary groups; b. understand which salary groups new posts should be placed in and to identify and understand any anomalies in the current groups; c. identify and understand where stakeholders hold different views about the placement of particular posts; d. categorise and assess how leadership roles and functions should affect placement of relevant roles into salary groups; and e. consider whether there is scope to simplify the current structure.