About us

The Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB) provides independent advice to the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Secretary of State for Health and the Home Secretary on the pay of Senior Civil Servants, the judiciary, senior officers of the armed forces, senior managers in the NHS in England and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) arm’s length bodies, Police and Crime Commissioners and chief police officers.

Who we are

Our current members are:

  • Pippa Lambert (Acting Chair)
  • Zoë Billingham CBE
  • Pippa Greenslade
  • Julian Miller
  • Ian McCafferty CBE
  • Mark Polin OBE
  • David Stanton
  • Sharon Witherspoon MBE

Responsibilities

We are responsible for providing independent advice to the Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Secretary of State for Health and the Home Secretary on the pay of

  • holders of judicial office
  • senior civil servants
  • senior officers of the armed forces
  • certain senior managers in the NHS
  • police and crime commissioners
  • chief police officers
  • other such public appointments as may from time to time be specified

We sometimes advise the Prime Minister on:

  • Peers’ allowances
  • the pay, pensions and allowances of Ministers and others whose pay is determined by the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975

When requested, we provide advice on the pay, pensions and allowances of members and office holders to:

  • the Presiding Officer and the First Minister of the Scottish Parliament
  • the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly
  • the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales
  • the Mayor of London and the Chair of the Greater London Assembly

When reaching our recommendations, we consider:

  • the need to recruit, retain and motivate and, where relevant, promote suitably able and qualified people to exercise their different responsibilities
  • regional/local variations in labour markets and their effects on the recruitment and retention of staff
  • government policies for improving the public services including the requirement on departments to meet the output targets for the delivery of departmental services
  • the funds available to departments as set out in the government’s departmental expenditure limits
  • the government’s inflation target
  • evidence we receive about wider economic considerations and the affordability of our recommendations.

When making recommendations, we consider any factors that the government and other witnesses may draw to its attention, eg:

  • differences in terms and conditions of employment between the public and private sector and between the remit groups (taking account of relative job security and the value of benefits in kind)
  • changes in national pay systems, including flexibility and the reward of success and job weight in differentiating the pay for particular posts
  • the relevant legal obligations, including anti-discrimination legislation regarding age, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion and belief and disability

We sometimes make other recommendations to:

  • ensure that, as appropriate, the remuneration of the remit groups relates coherently to that of their subordinates, encourages efficiency and effectiveness, and takes account of management and organisational structures
  • relate reward to performance where appropriate
  • maintain the confidence of those covered by the review body’s remit that its recommendations have been properly and fairly determined
  • ensure that the remuneration of those covered by the remit is consistent with the government’s equal opportunities policy

Code of practice

Our code of practice is included in our governance.

Corporate information

Access our information

Jobs and contracts

Read about the types of information we routinely publish in our Publication scheme.

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