Guidance

Judicial Pension Board terms of reference

Terms of reference for the board, which helps the Lord Chancellor to manage and govern the judicial pension schemes.

• From: Ministry of Justice
• Published: 20 September 2019
• Last updated: 22 January 2026 — See all updates

Introduction

As part of changes to judicial pension arrangements, a new governance framework was established to secure confidence in the Judicial Pension Schemes (JPS) of both scheme members and taxpayers. This is set out in the Judicial Pensions Regulations 2015 (JPR15) which are in line with requirements in the (Public Service Pensions Act 2013 (PSPA13)

The Lord Chancellor is the ‘Responsible Authority’ for the JPS, and as such, may make scheme regulations. In addition to this, the Lord Chancellor is also the ‘Scheme Manager’, and as such, is responsible for managing and administering the JPS.

Furthermore, each public service pension scheme, including the JPS, is to establish individual Pension Boards to support and assist the Scheme Manager in the exercising of this role. In the JPS, this is to be fulfilled by the ‘Judicial Pension Board (JPB)’. The JPB’s role is to provide assurance over and governance of the pension scheme’s administration.

Scheme Manager

The Lord Chancellor in their role of Scheme Manager has delegated their functions to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Group Finance Director. This is in accordance with section 5 of the JPR15 and the power to delegate.

Establishment

The JPB was established under section 6 of the JPR15.

Purpose

The purpose of the JPB is to assist the Scheme Manager in securing compliance with:

• JPS regulations and other legislation relating to the governance and administration of the JPS and any statutory pension schemes that is connected with it
• requirements in relation to the JPS and any connected scheme by the Pensions Regulator

The JPB is also responsible for assisting the Scheme Manager in the performance of their functions under JPR15.

Scope

The JPB will exercise its responsibilities in relation to all the JPS set out in Annex A

The Northern Ireland Judicial Pension Board (NIJPB) will have scope over devolved judiciary in Northern Ireland.1 Under administrative arrangement with the MoJ, the Department of Justice Northern Ireland (DOJNI) has agreed that those devolved members of JPS managed by MOJ on a UK- wide basis, will fall within the scope of MOJ for the purposes of scheme management, and thus of the JPB and not the NIJPB.

Roles and responsibilities

In line with this, the JPB will have oversight on behalf of the Scheme Manager in the following areas:

• assurance and governance of the administration of the JPS according to scheme rules, regulations, and requirements of the Pensions Regulator
• compliance with the Code of Practice on the governance and administration of public service pension schemes issued by the Pension Regulator
• performance of the third-party scheme administrator through the analysis of management information and key performance indicators, providing challenge where appropriate
• effectiveness and value for money of the administration of the JPS by XPS, the third-party administrator, and the support received from MoJ Pension Operations
• internal control procedures; contributing to the planning of risk management and audit programmes, as well as making and reviewing progress on recommendations as appropriate
• consideration of the Pensions Regulator’s annual report on public service pension schemes and provision of responses to its recommendations
• compliance with the record keeping requirements as set out in The Public Service Pensions (Record Keeping and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2014
• communications to members, including the extent to which the JPS administrator is engaging members and informing them about their scheme
• reviewing trends and patterns in the information provided by the JPS administrator, and making recommendations to the Scheme Manager as appropriate
• considering appeals, complaints and providing the Scheme Manager with a recommendation under stage 2 of the Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure
• providing recommendations to the Scheme Manager in respect of the exercising of any discretionary decisions under the JPR15. However, in line with regulation 4(6), the scheme manager and the JPB may agree that the requirements for consideration by the JPB do not apply to specific discretions or in specific circumstances

Membership

In line with the JPB’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, appointments should reflect the diversity of the society in which we live and aim to ensure a balance of skills, experiences, and backgrounds across the Board. 

Once appointed, members of the JPB must act in the interests of all stakeholders of the scheme.

The JPB Chair will be independent of employer and member groups and will be appointed by the Scheme Manager through the Public Appointments process, in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner on Public Appointments (OCPA). The appointment of the Chair is announced on GOV.UK.

In addition to the Chair, the JPB will include up to 3 further independent/non-executive board members to bring experience of best practice; independent advice; challenge; pensions technical expertise; and experience of operational delivery. These members will also be appointed by the Scheme Manager through the Public Appointments process and subject to the OCPA processes. These members will be non-voting members.

The board will also include an equal number of members from the employers, and from the scheme membership (the judiciary):

• There will be 3 employer representatives from the MoJ (including the relevant departmental finance director), and these will all be voting members. In addition, there will be a fourth rotating employer representative alternating every four years between the Scottish Government and the Department of Justice Northern Ireland. This rotating member will also hold voting rights. The employer representatives will be nominated by the Scheme Manager
• There will be 3 (judicial) member representatives on the JPB and these will all be voting members. In addition, there will be a fourth rotating member representative, alternating every four years between Scotland and Northern Ireland. This rotating member will also hold voting rights. The member representatives will be nominated by the Lord/Lady Chief of Justice, in consultation with the other Heads of Jurisdiction. Where possible, there will be representation from both currently Salaried and Fee-Paid judicial office holders on the JPB

All JPB members are to be formally appointed by the Independent Chair of the JPB.

Members are expected to attend all meetings, and no alternate representation or substitution is allowed.

The performance of JPB members will be evaluated on a periodic basis to ensure that all members are adequately meeting their duties. This will be undertaken by the Independent Chair.

Members may resign from the JPB by giving a minimum of 3 months’ notice in writing to the Chair.

Members may be removed from the JPB if there are, or may be, grounds to remove on account of incapacity; misconduct (which may include breach of one of the terms or conditions of the member’s appointment); or failure to carry out their duties.

Meetings

Frequency: The JPB will sit quarterly, and members should endeavor to attend all meetings during the year. The JPB may make a recommendation to the Scheme Manager to amend the frequency of meetings. The Independent Chair may call for an additional meeting of the JPB outside of the agreed quarterly schedule at any time, providing at least 2 weeks’ notice of the meeting where it is practicable to do so.

Format: Meetings can be conducted in-person or via Microsoft Teams, as decided by the Chair.

Chair: If the Chair is not present within fifteen minutes of the time appointed to hold the meeting, the members may choose an independent member to chair the meeting.

Quorum: A minimum of 5 members, including a minimum of 2 voting representatives from both the employer and the scheme membership will be required for a quorum. Non-quorate meetings may proceed in exceptional circumstances, but any decisions will be non-binding.  

Attendance of advisors: It may be necessary to draw on particular experts to support the responsibilities of the JPB, such as actuarial or legal support. This will be done on an ‘as required’ basis, and any expert advisor attending the meeting will only do so on an attendant basis and will not have a vote.

Decision making process/voting: The JPB will make formal decisions in order to provide recommendations to the Scheme Manager on a number of areas. The JPB is expected to operate on a consensus basis. However, in the event a consensus cannot be reached, a vote will be taken. All member and employer representatives will have voting rights, with the casting vote in the event of a tie resting with the Independent Chair.

Sub-committees

The JPB may establish sub-committees as it sees fit.

The JPB will agree and can amend each sub-committee’s Terms of Reference.

The JPB will appoint and remove members of the sub-committees.

The Independent Chair of the JPB may determine who is to act as Chair of each sub-committee but can also delegate that function to each sub-committee. However, where there is no consensus amongst the members of the sub-committee, the Independent Chair will decide.

The JPB has established an Administrative Committee and a Dispute Resolution sub-committee to support the JPB in meeting its responsibilities to administer the JPS particularly, but not exclusively, in relation to the third- party administrator and managing claims under the JPS Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure.

Reporting

The JPB will provide an annual report to the Scheme Manager to provide assurance that the JPB has fulfilled its roles and responsibilities. The Independent Chair will meet with the Scheme Manager and with the relevant Director in the MOJ as appropriate.

Publishing of information

To demonstrate that the JPS is being run effectively and efficiently, specific information on the JPB will be published and made easily accessible to all scheme members.

This information will be hosted on the internet and will include:

• the full terms of reference for the JPB
• who the JPB members are and how the JPS are represented on the JPB
• the appointment process of members to the JPB
• summary minutes of JPB meetings (redacted where appropriate to respect confidentiality of the requirements of the legislation

References to the JPB above should be taken to include any committee or subgroup, established under paragraph 12 above.

Conflicts of Interest

The JPR15 requires that JPB members do not have conflicts of interest. As such, all members of the JPB are required to declare any interests and any potential conflicts of interest in line with legal requirements and the requirements of the Pension Regulator’s Code of Practice. These declarations are required as part of the appointment process and at the start of each meeting thereafter.

Conflicts of Interest will be monitored and managed by the Independent Chair on an ongoing basis and in line with the JPB Conflict of Interest procedures

Knowledge and understanding

All members will receive training to ensure they have up-to-date and working knowledge and understanding to fulfil their duties, in line with the expectations set out in the Pension Regulator’s Code of Practice. This includes appropriate knowledge and understanding of scheme rules, the Regulations and other legislation governing the scheme, best practice pensions governance, and other matters as may be prescribed.

Members must keep their knowledge up to date and should maintain a written record of their relevant training and development. The JPB secretariat will also maintain a written record of their relevant training and development.

Review and changes to the Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference of the JPB will be reviewed by the Independent Chair annually to ensure suitability and will be subject to periodic review in the future. The JPB may make recommendations to the Scheme Manager with regard to potential changes to these Terms of Reference and accompanying annexes.

JPB effectiveness

The JPB will review their effectiveness against the Terms of Reference on an annual basis.

Other

The JPB may consider any other items specifically referred to it and make recommendations specifically delegated to it are appropriate.

Annex A: Connected pension schemes

A schedule of existing pension schemes determined as “connected schemes” is outlined in Schedule 5 to the Public Service Pensions Act 2013

The connected schemes are, a scheme constituted by or made under:

• s.20 of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1907
• paragraph 23 of Schedule 9 to the Agriculture Act 1947, so far as relating to payment of pension benefits
• any provision of Part XIII of the County Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 1959 (c. 25 (NI))
• any provision of the District Judges (Magistrates’ Courts) Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 1960 (c. 2 (NI))
• any provision of the Sheriffs’ Pensions (Scotland) Act 1961
• paragraph 7A of Schedule 10 to the Rent Act 1977 [exception: injury benefits and compensation benefits]
• any provision of the Judicial Pensions Act 1981 [exception: injury benefits under a scheme constituted by or made under Part 3 of Schedule 1 to that Act]
• paragraph 9 of Schedule 4 to the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984
• any provision of Part 1, Part 1A or section 19 of the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993 [exception: benefits payable to or in respect of a holder of a devolved office]
• paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 1 to the Scottish Land Court Act 1993
• paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 to the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (asp 13)
• paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 4)
• paragraph 2(1)(b) of Schedule 2 to the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (asp 10), so far as relating to payment of pension benefits
• paragraph 6(3) of Schedule 11 to the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 (nawm 1)

Annex B

Support for the JPB will be provided by officials from the relevant directorate in the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). This is currently determined as Pension Operations.

Officials from MOJ will provide support to the Scheme Manager and the JPB in the following areas:

• ensure that sufficient levels of training are available to all JPB members to maintain required levels of knowledge and understanding
• manage the day-to-day operation of the scheme and the relationship with the service providers
• provide secretariat support for meetings, ensuring appropriate levels of facilitation and logistical support. Officials will ensure an annual schedule of meetings is maintained
• issue papers to JPB members at least 7 days before each meeting, unless prior authorisation of the Independent Chair has been received
• record minutes of all JPB meetings, including any and all subcommittee meetings. Draft minutes will be circulated to the Chair for agreement and thereafter circulated for comment to JPB members and formally agreed at the following meeting.
• summary minutes will be published on the relevant internet site and redacted where appropriate to respect confidentiality

Footnote

The “devolved judiciary” are all judicial office-holders in Northern Ireland who are NOT listed in paragraph 11 of Schedule 2 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998.↩

Published 20 September 2019

Last updated 22 January 2026 + show all updates

1. 22 January 2026

   Terms of Reference updated

2. 20 September 2019

   First published.