Update on coroners’ pay bargaining situation - May 2026

Update on the situation with the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Coroners, which as you will recall the Coroners Society of England and Wales (CSEW) withdrew from in March 2025.

Joint Negotiating Committee for Coroners Management Side

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)

7 May 2026

Dear colleague,

Update on Coroners’ pay bargaining situation

1: We wanted to provide an update on the situation with the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Coroners, which as you will recall the Coroners Society of England and Wales (CSEW) withdrew from in March 2025.

2: In our circular issued 25 March 2026, we provided an update following a meeting of the management/local government side with representatives of the CSEW, sharing an offer letter we then sent to the CSEW, in seeking to find a way forward to reform the JNC in order to settle the annual pay review nationally.

3: The management/local government side letter contained four key points to underline both understanding of the CSEW frustration, and a commitment to seek to resolve this impasse.

Members fully accepted the point about coroners being judicial office holders and committed to capturing that point more clearly in our communication and consultations with local authorities going forward.
Members committed to having greater regard to the pay increases awarded via the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB), while noting that, as the funding of the coronial Service sits with local government, this process would always be a negotiation.
Members suggested moving the annual pay review date (which currently sits at 1 April each year) to a point in time that enables the SSRB process to have concluded (which is generally over the summer period) so that it could be taken account of in those annual negotiations in a meaningful way.
Members offered to jointly agree on an evidence-based process to explore base salary levels and offered additional talks to establish the Terms of Reference for a process that could be acceptable to both sides.

Response from the CSEW

4: CSEW sent a formal reply on 16 April 2026, which we append to this circular. While much of the management/local government side offer has been positively received, the CSEW describe what is effectively a red line for them, which is not about the annual pay review, but the JNC salary levels:

"However, it seems to us that there is still a significant sticking point on the setting of Coroners’ base salaries. Our members are of the firm opinion that our position in that regard is non-negotiable and that salaries need to be aligned with a judicial comparator.”

5: While the CSEW letter concluded: “Going forward, if there was then to be an evaluation of the role, we (the CSEW) would suggest that seeking assistance from the SSRB would be the correct approach, as they would already have the requisite knowledge of relevant judicial roles. Further, if the LGA and your members were prepared to change their approach with regard to base salaries, we would then be in a much better position to seek to move forward with regard to annual reviews.”

6: The position was then underlined, with CSEW indicating via email that they do not see a way forward and in their view there is no alterative but for coroners to seek a determination from the Lord Chancellor on this matter.

7: Noting that the management/local government side offered to review the salary benchmarking report (conducted by Korn Ferry Hay) as part of the 2023 pay agreement and have re-stated that offer throughout this process, this is disappointing. In our recent meeting, members explained they would need some sort of process to explore salary benchmarking, but simply aligning salaries to the judiciary (which would then tie the hands of local government in relation to the annual pay round) and/or increasing salaries without due process is not going to be acceptable to the management/local government side.

Current rates of pay

8: The management/local government side circular last summer (Coroners circular no 71 - Coroners’ pay 2025/26 - 26 August 2025) adjusted the JNC published rates based on the suggested recommended pay increase from the management/local government side. Therefore, for those that increased pay by 3.2% from 1 April 2025, the current JNC range of pay for a full-time senior coroner is £137,379 to £152,645.

9: The current pay ranges for judicial salaries set by the Senior Salaries Review Board (SSRB) can be found here: judicial-salaries-2025-2026.pdf

What does the law say in relation to the Lord Chancellor role?

10: The relevant provisions in the Coroner and Justice Act 2009 are set out in Schedule 3 paragraph 15:

‘Salary of senior and area coroners

15(1) The senior coroner for an area is entitled to a salary.

(2) The amount of the salary is to be whatever is from time to time agreed by the senior coroner and the relevant authority for the area.

(3) If the senior coroner and the relevant authority cannot agree about an alteration in the amount of the salary—

(a) either of them may refer the matter to the Lord Chancellor;
(b) the Lord Chancellor may determine the amount of the salary and the date on which it is to become payable.

Any alteration in the amount of salary is to take effect in accordance with the Lord Chancellor's determination.

(4) In making a determination under sub-paragraph (3), the Lord Chancellor must have regard—

(a) to the nature and extent of the coroner's functions, and
(b) to all the circumstances of the case.

(5) The salary to which the senior coroner for an area is entitled under this paragraph is payable by the relevant authority for the area.

(6) This paragraph applies in relation to an area coroner for an area as it applies in relation to the senior coroner for an area (references to the senior coroner being read as references to an area coroner).

11: To that end, it is the view of the management/local government side that this national question may not actually be a matter for Lord Chancellor determination (beyond determining any individual/local disagreement regarding an alteration of salary – which we read in line with the annual pay review, as set out in paragraph (3) above). In addition, it is worth remembering that two Lord Chancellors have already been asked whether Coroners should move into the SSRB for pay purposes and neither has taken that opportunity, leaving Coroner salary determination within local government.

12: We would also remind colleagues of the MOJ letter dated 9 January 2026 that we published with our last circular which contained the following regarding the Lord Chancellors view:

“In the Lord Chancellor’s view, therefore, a fresh independent evaluation of coronial roles, commissioned jointly by the LGA and CSEW, would provide a robust basis for a refreshed JNC framework which reflects current operational pressures and evolving demands. We hope the LGA will be willing to take this initiative forward in conjunction with the CSEW and, to support that process, I am writing to Richard Travers at the CSEW in similar terms.”

This is what management/local government side members have set out and offered.

13: Given the latest position of the CSEW regarding the re-establishment of the JNC, and noting the timing (we are now in the local government pre-election period which will necessitate some change of members on the management/local government side) it is unlikely that these issues are going to progress much further over the next month or so in any case.

14: However, this provides an opportunity for the management/local government side to take stock, and to gather information from local authorities and to seek feedback and views on next steps. We are therefore conducting an online survey which we would be very grateful if you could support and that will enable us to continue providing advice where we can. It would help immensely if we were able to understand what actions local authorities took over the last year in relation to pay for 2025/26, and what your intentions are for pay 2026/27.

15: Our online survey will run until 29 May 2026 and we would welcome one response per local authority please.

16: In the meantime, if you have any questions or wish to discuss these issues, please do contact us via [email protected]. We will continue to issue updates as often as possible.

All best wishes,

Sarah Ward
Management/Local Government Side Secretary
JNC for Coroners

Appendix A

Sarah Ward
Local Government Association
Sent by email only: [email protected] 16th April 2026

Dear Sarah,

Thank you for your letter of the 24th March, I am sorry for the delay in coming back to you, but we were not able to meet until earlier this week.

David and I were pleased to have the opportunity of meeting with the councillors who sit behind the LGA Secretariat and were grateful that they took the time to listen to and to understand our position. It was clear to us, as is set out in your letter that, perhaps, they had not previously fully appreciated the importance of the independence of the coroner.

Inevitably, their understanding will be influenced by the coronial area with which they are familiar. From Pete Marland’s perspective, acting as the Chair of the group, the Area with which he is familiar is Milton Keynes. From a coronial point of view, Milton Keynes is a very small Area and could not be considered to be representative of the majority of coronial Areas.

On a positive note, we could see that there might be some way forward with regard to annual reviews, if appropriate terms of reference could be agreed, and in that regard we note the willingness to put extra emphasis on the SSRB position and to move the relevant date to align more with the date for the SSRB’s annual review of judicial salaries.

However, it seems to us that there is still a significant sticking point on the setting of Coroners’ base salaries. Our members are of the firm opinion that our position in that regard is non-negotiable and that salaries need to be aligned with a judicial comparator.

As we explained, a number of Areas have agreed to the CSEW’s proposal in this regard and this number is growing, albeit slowly. Many of those Areas where the Local Authority is having difficulty in reaching an agreement with their coroner are not failing to do so because they have a real objection to the CSEW’s proposal, but rather because they appear to be awaiting some direction form the LGA and are anxious not to step out of line. In many ways this is frustrating because the position adopted by the LGA is thereby acting as a blocker rather than a facilitator in those local negotiations.

I would urge you and your colleagues to reconsider your position to allow the issue of base salary to be settled in line with our proposals, which would have the added advantage of being able to avoid the route of coroners having to seek a determination from the Lord Chancellor. Going forward, if there was then to be an evaluation of the role, we would suggest that seeking assistance from the SSRB would be the correct approach, as they would already have the requisite knowledge of relevant judicial roles.

Further, if the LGA and your members were prepared to change their approach with regard to base salaries, we would then be in a much better position to seek to move forward with regard to annual reviews.

I would be grateful if you would speak to your members about this and I shall look forward to hearing the outcome of your discussions.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Travers
Richard Travers
HM Senior Coroner Surrey
Local Government & Salaries Secretary of the Coroners' Society of England and Wales