Breakdown of CPS legal staff
Request
- How many paralegals are currently employed directly by the Crown Prosecution Service (clarification - still employed up to April 2025)
- I request to know how many in house solicitors are employed by the CPS (clarification - still employed up to April 2025)
- I request to know how many in house Higher Rights of Audience solicitors (if different from above) are employed by the CPS (clarification - still employed up to April 2025)
- I request to know how many in house Barristers are employed in house by the CPS (clarification - still employed up to April 2025)
- I request to know how many in house King's Counsel Barristers are employed by the CPS. (Clarification if you feel this falls under Section 40 of the FOI Act then please can you provide a more generalised number i.e. less than 10 / 20 etc)
- I request to know a breakdown of pay brackets for the above questions.
Response
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) holds the following information within the scope of your request:
- At the end of March 2025, the CPS employed a headcount of 1,212 ‘Paralegals’. This includes paralegal assistants, paralegal officers and paralegal business managers.
- At the end of March 2025, the CPS employed a headcount of 2,409 ‘in-house solicitors.’
- At the end of March 2025, the CPS employed a headcount of 72 solicitors with higher rights of audience (HRA) deployed as CPS Crown Advocates. The CPS does not centrally record the number of solicitors with HRA that aren’t in a role requiring Crown Court deployment as an advocate.
- At the end of March 2025, the CPS employed a headcount of 129 ‘in-house barristers’ deployed as Crown Advocates in the Crown Court and 440 across its wider legal workforce.
- At the end of March 2025, the CPS employed a headcount of two ‘in-house King’s Counsel Barristers’.
The tables below provide the CPS pay ranges for legal grades for the financial year 2024 to 2025. The Civil Service equivalent grade is shown alongside.
CPS legal roles can be fulfilled by both a practising barrister or solicitor and do not differentiate between lawyer types in terms of pay. King’s Counsel would typically be graded as either Principal or Senior Crown Advocate and therefore be placed in the applicable pay band. The CPS uses two separate pay ranges which apply to the majority of grades; the ‘London’ Pay range applies to those employed in London and the Southeast Region and the ‘National’ pay range applies to those employed in all other locations where CPS operates. The London pay ranges are higher to reflect the geographical labour market and increased cost of living. For those grades not aligned to a London or National pay range, a single pay range applies regardless of location.
National Figures CPS Grade Civil Service Equivalent Minimum £ Maximum £ A2 Paralegal Assistant Administrative Officer 24,950 27,450 B1 Paralegal Officer Executive Officer 29,620 31,350 B2 Paralegal Business Manager Higher Executive Officer 34,680 36,740 Crown Prosecutor Senior Executive Officer 42,320 46,780 Senior Crown Prosecutor Grade 7 54,080 61,650 Specialist Prosecutor Grade 7 63,370 73,550 Senior Specialist Prosecutor Grade 6 74,560 84,870 Legal Manager 1 Grade 7 64,640 73,540 Legal Manager 2 Grade 6 74,990 84,850 Crown Advocate Level 1 Senior Executive Officer 42,320 46,780 Crown Advocate Level 2 Grade 7 57,850 65,760 Crown Advocate Level 3 Grade 7 65,150 70,800 Senior Crown Advocate Grade 6 72,450 78,760 Principal Crown Advocate Grade 6 84,400 91,700 London Figures CPS Grades Civil Service Equivalent Minimum £ Maximum £ A2 Paralegal Assistant Administrative Officer 26,750 29,250 B1 Paralegal Officer Executive Officer 31.030 33,200 B2 Paralegal Business Manager Higher Executive Officer 36,360 38,630 Crown Prosecutor Senior Executive Officer 44,570 49,030 Senior Crown Prosecutor Grade 7 59.660 69,330 Specialist Prosecutor Grade 7 68,340 78,280 Senior Specialist Prosecutor Grade 6 77,650 87,200 Legal Manager 1 Grade 7 71,270 78,290 Legal Manager 2 Grade 6 78,970 87,200 Crown Advocate Level 1 Senior Executive Officer 44,570 49,030 Crown Advocate Level 2 Grade 7 62,890 71,000 Crown Advocate Level 3 Grade 7 70,150 76,230 Senior Crown Advocate Grade 6 75,400 81,970 Principal Crown Advocate Grade 6 88,900 97,670 Central Casework Divisions CPS Grades Civil Service Equivalent Minimum £ Maximum £ Principal Crown Advocate Grade 6 106,380 122,550 Senior Legal Manager 1 Senior Civil Service Pay Band 1 94,160 99,592 Senior Legal Manager 2 Senior Civil Service Pay Band 1 109,560 117,800