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On December 4th, 2024, The UK Bar Council published a report revealing that black barristers are less likely to secure immediate tenancy than their white counterparts. This is indicative of the systemic challenges that barristers from minority communities, especially blacks and Asians, face.
The 2024 report was a follow-up to the 2021 Race at the Bar: A Snapshot Report published by the Bar Council. The Council aimed to assess how much progress had been made since the recommendations in its 2021 report, which showed that barristers from ethnic minority groups faced systemic obstacles to building sustainable careers.
The first report was commissioned to make recommendations for the Council and other stakeholders on tackling inequality at the Bar, as well as among self-employed barristers. Data in the 2021 report evidenced that barristers from ethnic minority groups, especially Asian and black women, face systemic challenges to building a rewarding and sustainable career at the Bar. Other key findings were as follows:
In its 2021 report, the Council recommended that all Bar-based stakeholders identify and publish goals for improving diversity and timelines for achieving them. The Council stressed the need for programmes to support the access, retention and progress of barristers from ethnic minority groups.
The Council also promised to analyse data on barristers from ethnic minority groups annually to record progress. In honour of this promise, the Council published its recent follow-up report on December 4th, 2024.
The new report, Race at the Bar: Three Years On, indicates that the overall diversity of the Bar has been improving year by year. There has been some progress on access, retention, progress and culture. However, the Council cautioned that more work is needed, particularly regarding growing the experience of black barristers, aspiring barristers, pupils and students.
A survey of the organisations and chambers that responded to the 2021 report showed that 92% had taken action on at least one of the recommendations made in the first report. Attitudes have changed, with widespread acceptance that there are grave systemic and cultural challenges around race.
However, the 2024 report found that progress is still limited with respect to:
For the first time, the Council considered two new data sets: earnings and pupil-to-tenancy conversion rates. Although the pupil-to-tenancy rates are similar for differing ethnic groups, transitions are easier for white pupils than their black peers. White pupils are more likely to be offered immediate tenancy where they train.
Below is a summary of the key findings of the 2024 report:
The recent report made recommendations for organisations, chambers and the Council as follows:
To support the UK Bar, the Council has launched a new race equality toolkit that will help break down the actions organisations and chambers can take. The Bar Standards Board also factored in the recommendations in the report when formulating equality rules.
“This progress report shows that things are gradually improving. We all need to increase our efforts, collect and analyse data and take effective actions to ensure the meaningful impact of the Bar’s culture so that every barrister has support and the opportunity to thrive,” noted Sam Townend KC, Chair of the Bar, when launching the report.
Source: The Law Society Gazette
References:
2021 Race at the Bar: A Snapshot Report
2024 Race at the Bar: Three Years On
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