Recommendation 4

HM Government Deferred

The Ministry of Justice works closely with the judiciary and the JAC to identify the judicial recruitment need and to fill those vacancies. That is reflected in the recruitment which commenced in 2021/22 for up to 1000 judges and tribunal members and the 2022/23 programme for up to 1100 vacancies. Meeting the needs of our courts and tribunals relies on both salaried and fee-paid (part-time) judges. A healthy fee-paid pool is key to meeting the need for salaried roles (which for most, previous judicial experience is a requirement). Since 2017, the pool of fee paid judges in the courts has increased by 12% and the cadre of Deputy District Judges is 27% larger. Recorder recruitment (i.e., fee paid Circuit Judges) has met or exceeded the original vacancy request in each of the last three years and there are 30 more Deputy High Court Judges than in 2017. Recruiting sufficient salaried judges has been challenging, but the MoJ has been proactive in overcoming these challenges. Action has been taken on remuneration: for example, the pension reforms from April 2022 resulting in a 17% uplift in remuneration for District Judges and 20% for Circuit Judges; and the MoJ has adjusted its recruitment approach (for example, reducing from 30 to 15 days the sitting experience required for those applying to be a District Judge). The increase in the judicial retirement age in March 2022 to 75 years will also enable the retention of additional judges. To meet the needs of court recovery, recruitment for 80 Circuit Judges and 125 Recorders will commence during 2022. Should there be shortfalls, these will be mitigated by: • increasing Recorder recruitment where there are higher numbers of appointable candidates and increasing Recorder sittings. • allowing crime Recorders to sit up to 80 days in 2022–2023 (rather than the usual maximum of 30), and where there is a business justification, the maximum has been raised to 180 days. • approval of District Judges (Magistrates Court) to sit in the Crown Court; and approving Circuit Judges to sit in retirement. • deploying judges from the National Recorder Pool to sit in London and on the Midland circuit even if there are vacancies on their home circuit, in order to boost flexibility. • approving some Circuit Judges to sit ‘off circuit’ – that is in other circuits in regions with the greatest pressures, on a voluntary short-term basis. Current focus is London and the Midlands. MoJ is in the middle of a multi-year pay agreement, to which HMCTS is party. The agreement is a major step in tackling long standing issues around pay and reward and improving pay significantly across HMCTS. It means the department will offer more competitive pay in line with other government departments which, alongside rewarding work, self development and inclusive culture, will help HMCTS hire and retain the best people and better reward efforts in keeping the public safe and serving justice. The third year of that three year deal will be paid in August 2022 at which point HMCTS return to the annual civil service pay remit process. MoJ are developing a reward strategy to determine the longer term approach to pay, part of which will be to ensure that it will remain competitive alongside other government departments. Enhancing Court Capacity—Evaluating court capacity