In our last circular issued on 7 May 2026 we provided an update on Coroners’ pay and asked local authorities to complete a survey. This circular provides a summary of the results.
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)
12 June 2026
Dear colleague,
In our last circular issued on 7 May 2026 we provided an update on Coroners’ pay and asked local authorities to complete a survey.
This circular provides a summary of the results of that survey. A small number of local authorities contacted us after the deadline with their responses, and these have been incorporated into the results.
The key findings from the survey results are as follows*:
Fifty-one responses were received from a total of 74 coronial areas (a 69% response rate).
Eighty-four per cent of respondents received a pay claim from their Coroner(s) last year and of those who did receive pay claim:
- 31% matched LG services and settled at 3.2%
- 33% have not settled the claim (i.e. have failed to reach an agreement)
- 13% matched SSRB and settled at 4%
Sixty-three per cent of Coroners have asked to have their salaries aligned to another role in the judiciary (e.g. circuit or district judges). Of those requests:
- 11% have been agreed to
- 50% have not been agreed to
- 17% said that discussions are ongoing
When asked if their Coroner has asked the local authority to match the SSRB pay increase in future years and if this request has been agreed to, the responses were:
- 9% said yes, they have asked and it has been agreed
- 27% said they have asked but it has not been agreed
- 21% said they have asked and discussions are on-going
- 21% said they have not asked
When asked if they would support the management side in agreeing, at a national level, to pay Coroners at the same pay point as another role in the judiciary (and then apply the same annual pay increase given to the judiciary) without a formal job evaluation process, the responses were as follows:
- 16% said they would support this approach
- 25% said they would not support this approach
- 25% would only support this approach if there was a formal role evaluation process
Sixty-two per cent of respondents said they would like the management side to make a recommendation for pay for 2026.
In terms of what respondents would like to see the management side do next, responses were**:
35% would like the management side to continue to seek to re-establish the JNC
22% would like the management side to continue to offer a role evaluation process to CSEW
28% would like the management side to continue to seek help from the MoJ
2% would like the management side to align Coroner salaries to another role in the judiciary with no role evaluation process (noting this is a lower number than answered positively to the question above)
Next steps
The management side of the JNC (as was) will be meeting in the next few weeks to consider the survey results and how best to continue to offer support to local authorities on coronial pay, including consideration of making a recommendation for pay for 2026.
If you have any questions about this circular please email us at [email protected]
Best wishes
Sarah Ward
Management Side Secretary
JNC for Coroners
* not all respondents answered all questions, so percentages do not always add up to 100%,
**respondents were able to provide more than one response to this question, although not everyone answered the question