Most recent pay band data for CPS lawyers and how the bands correspond with experience

Please could you provide me with your most recent pay band data for CPS lawyers?

For the purpose of the response, reference to ‘pay band data’ has been interpreted as ‘pay ranges’. The Annex A document attached, labelled as ‘Attachment FOI Request ref 12174’ sets out the current pay ranges for the CPS’ legal grades, starting with our entry level grade of Crown Prosecutor for a fully qualified lawyer. The Civil Service equivalent grade is shown alongside.

Each legal grade has a pay range consisting of a range minimum (the starting salary for the grade) and a range maximum (the highest salary that can be paid).  There are no fixed points in between the range minimum and the range maximum.

The CPS uses two separate pay ranges which apply to the majority of its grades. The ‘London’ pay range’ applies to those employed in London and the Southeast region. The ‘National’ pay range applies to those employed in all other locations where CPS operates.

The London pay range minimums and maximums are higher to reflect the geographical labour markets and cost of living pressures.

For those grades not aligned to a London or National pay range a single pay range applies regardless of location.

Can you also set out how the bands correspond with experience e.g. what is a newly qualified lawyer paid vs someone with 3 years post-qualification experience. You will obviously use different labels, so I just want to know how they translate to experience/private practice measures.

A newly qualified lawyer will typically start on the minimum of the Crown Prosecutor pay range.  Earnings after that are determined by the CPS’ pay settlement (as opposed to post-qualification experience) which is negotiated via Collective Bargaining with our recognised trade unions and in accordance with the funding limits set by Civil Service pay remit guidance. The pay settlement is usually negotiated on an annual basis and the resulting pay rates can therefore be the output of a variable percentage adjustment year-on-year rather than a guaranteed rate or guaranteed proportionate salary modification.

A Crown Prosecutor will typically progress to Senior Crown Prosecutor (or one of the other legal roles) within 2 – 3 years although the period of transition is variable. Such a transition would come with a salary reassessment which would generally see the rate reset to the range minimum of the new grade.