We have received a formal letter on behalf of the Coroners’ Society of England and Wales (CSEW) on 18 March 2024 which confirmed that the CSEW would be withdrawing from the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Coroners.
Joint Negotiating Committee for Coroners
Management Side Secretary, Sarah Ward
Local Government Association
18 Smith Square London, SW1P 3HZ
[email protected]
To: Chief executives (London Boroughs, Metropolitan Districts, County Councils and Unitary Councils in England and Wales)
21 March 2025
Dear colleague
JNC Coroners
Coroners’ Society (England & Wales (CSEW) give notice of withdrawal
We received a formal letter on behalf of the Coroners’ Society of England and Wales (CSEW) on 18 March 2024 which confirmed that the CSEW would be withdrawing from the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Coroners. The letter said:
“I must now inform you that at a CSEW Council meeting held on Thursday 13th March 2025, the Society voted overwhelmingly in favour of withdrawing from the JNC on the basis that it is no longer fit for purpose and is not a proper method of determining a judicial salary for Coroners. Please, therefore, take this letter as notice of the Society’s formal withdrawal from the JNC and that, for this year’s round of negotiations, Coroners will be dealing directly with their relevant local authority.”
Background
- Coroners are not employees; they are appointed by local authorities but are independent judicial office holders. That said, local authorities are responsible for paying the salary or fee for Coroners and may in addition employ support staff who are likely to be on NJC (local government services) terms and conditions.
- With that “employment” distinction in mind, the JNC (the scope of which relates to Coroners in England and Wales who are remunerated by local authorities) has had the key task to consider salary scales and to make recommendation in regard to such scales to the appointing authorities.
- The “management side” of the JNC is represented by elected councillors appointed by the LGA and WLGA, and the “officers’ side” is represented by delegates appointed by the Coroners’ Society of England and Wales.
The management side of the JNC was, and remains, very alive to the issues that the CWEW have expressed in their letter. However, it is important to also remember the observations shared by the management side, in their full and final pay offer for 1 April 2024/45).
- Despite larger, funded public sector pay awards this summer via pay review bodies (including the judiciary), local government did not receive any additional injections of cash to cover salaries of any profession.
- Senior Leaders across local government, including Chief Executives and Chief Officers, have all reached agreement on 2.5 per cent increases from 1 April (2024). We understand that Coroners are not employees of local government, but the reality is that any pay awards are funded in the same way.
- We asked local authorities earlier in the year for evidence of recruitment and retention concerns in relation to coronial posts but none was forthcoming.
- The management side remains committed to a nationally agreed, consistent approach to pay negotiations. We are concerned that a return to individual bargaining (directly between each Coroner and the corresponding local authority) would place both sides in a much less advantageous position and would not, in our opinion, address the core grievance of the officer side.
What happens now?
- The pay review date for Coroners is 1 April.
- Now that the CSEW has issued its intention to withdraw from the JNC, the JNC Coroners will not be making a national recommendation or issuing a pay circular for 1 April 2025.
- Local authorities may wish to pay due regard to other Local Government collective bargaining when making their own local deliberations, for example the Chief Officers' JNC details of which are available on our website and are issued to local authorities.
- LGA workforce also issues a Workforce bulletin which provides updates on all collective bargaining matters (to which we recommend you subscribe).
- Please note that the inbox for coroner pay queries [email protected] will continue to be monitored and you will be able to access the previous JNC circulars on the LGA website.
Yours faithfully,
Sarah Ward
Management Side Secretary
JNC for Coroners