CILEx Regulation is committed to the public sector equality duty set out in the Equality Act 2010. We work to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act.
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
Diversity and the regulatory objectives
The Legal Services Act 2007 sets out regulatory objectives, one of which is to encourage an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession.
The Legal Services Board (LSB) considers a diverse workforce a key aspect of developing a legal sector that best serves consumers and supports innovation. As such all regulators must consider diversity issues in their regulatory activity, and as part of supporting a high performing legal sector.
In February 2017 the LSB published revised guidance for legal services regulators for encouraging a diverse workforce. The revised guidance is less prescriptive than previously to allow the regulators to take targeted approaches, suitable for their regulated community. It also looks beyond data collection and monitoring through the introduction of outcomes focusing on regulatory activities, stakeholder networks and accountability.
The earlier LSB guidance required all regulators to carry out diversity surveys at firm level and, between 2013 and 2016, we carried out annual diversity surveys of our self-employed members and their employees. Collecting equality and diversity information about our regulated community is an important part of our diversity work as it enables us to better understand the diversity profile of those we regulate. We have been working hard to improve our engagement levels and knowledge. Through engagement and increased information, we can identify trends to inform our policy development and decision making.
In 2017, we carried out the first diversity survey that provided all those we regulate to self-certify against the LSB’s range of diversity characteristics. Our full diversity survey report and key findings infographic are available here.
