After a decade of wage freezes and the public sector pay cap, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutors, professionals and senior managers will be rewarded up to 8% pay increases, thanks to the FDA.

These rises, which will be paid over the course of two years, are part of the union’s new CPS pay deal, which also narrows pay ranges and secures a 13.5% increase of the department’s overtime rates.

In addition to this, Crown Prosecutors’ pay will rise by over 10%, as a result of a regrading exercise negotiated by the FDA. The union and CPS have also agreed to develop a form of competency-based pay progression to be implemented in 2020. 

The deal follows years of campaigning, as the union has continually demanded financial recognition of CPS staff’s work.

In 2017, the FDA successfully increased rates under the Weekend Court Coverage Scheme (which applies when lawyers cover weekend court shifts) by up to 50%. The same year, the union called on the department put forward a business case to the Treasury, asking for staff salary increases.

In March 2018, the FDA made a submission to the Justice Select Committee, making the case for “a reform of CPS pay structures to enable genuine progression through pay ranges” and “to set salary levels that ensure the CPS can effectively recruit and retain prosecutors”. 

The CPS’s business case was finally approved in February 2019, paving the way to the new pay deal, which FDA members formally accepted on 1 March.

Stephen Head, Deputy Convenor of the FDA’s CPS Section, underscored that the results of the pay deal “wouldn’t be possible without the FDA’s consistent campaigning.” 

“For the past several years,” he continued, “the union has been championing the work of CPS staff, and demanding recognition for the lawyers, managers and professionals who deliver justice to the UK.”

FDA National Officer Steven Littlewood welcomes the pay increase, but describes it as a “well overdue reward for long-serving staff, who have been trapped in the lower ends of pay ranges for years.”

“The pay rises in this deal are only the first piece in the puzzle of how to appropriately recognise loyal staff,” he explained. “The CPS is under-resourced. There is a long-standing shortage of staff. We look forward to working with the employer to achieve a reward system that is able to recruit and retain lawyers. We must ensure that our criminal justice system remains a world class institution. We can’t allow justice to be devalued.”

The FDA are looking to recruit CPS reps across the UK, to ensure that local management are adhering to the deployment principle of this agreement. If you are interested in getting involved with your union and helping your fellow colleagues, get in touch by emailing steven@fda.org.uk.