Huge congratulations to Barbara Mills KC on becoming Chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales 2025.
I was deeply honoured to join colleagues from across the legal profession as Barbara delivered her inaugural speech at Inner Temple. In her truly inspirational address Barbara spoke of her commitment to highlighting the important role family law plays in our society, improving wellbeing support to barristers and making more progress on diversity and inclusion at the Bar.
Barbara talked about her motivation to run for Chair of the Bar Council – partly to show that our profession can and should be open to people of all backgrounds. Much like Barbara I ‘didn’t fit the stereotype’ of a barrister when I was called to the Bar in 1990. I grew up in Bolton, was state-educated and the first in my immediate family to go to university. I did law at Sheffield University and had no connections with the legal profession.
As Treasury Solicitor and Permanent Secretary of the Government Legal Department I am committed to playing a role to improve diversity throughout the legal profession. Every summer we run the Government Legal Profession Diversity Summer Scheme that invites students from under-represented backgrounds to work alongside government lawyers and gain experience of government law. We also take part in the Sutton Trust Pathways to Law programme that provides A-level students interested in a career in law with skills workshops, university taster sessions, networking opportunities and work placements. It is a privilege to welcome the students to GLD and be a small part of their career journeys. This has led to the expansion of our early talent programme which alongside our pupillages and training contracts now includes solicitor apprenticeships. We are pleased to be participating in the trailblazer group developing the new barrister apprenticeship. I believe the Employed Bar can make a great contribution to this initiative in terms of broadening access to the profession.
It is a significant year for the Bar as for the first time in its 131-year history the roles of Chair, Vice-Chair and Treasurer are all held by women (Mills, Kirsty Brimelow KC and Lucinda Orr). It is so important that the Bar reflects the society we serve and although there is still much to do, we are making positive steps towards greater gender diversity.
Despite progress in some areas, I was disappointed to read about the lack of progress made in relation to race in the Bar Council’s report, Race at the Bar: Three years on. As Barbara noted, the Employed Bar is generally more diverse than the self-employed Bar and I am proud (but not complacent) that GLD is an exemplar in many respects. One area we still need to make more progress on is in relation to diversity of counsel representing government in our most high-profile cases.
I was interested to hear Barbara emphasizing the importance of access to wellbeing support for barristers and in particular drawing attention to the fact that women, barristers from an ethnic minority background and younger and more junior barristers are more likely to report having lower overall wellbeing. Our career is challenging, and we often have to work very long hours on complex matters. I loved the idea that wellbeing support should be as normal as having an accountant or insurance. Taking a positive, preventative approach to wellbeing is a strategic priority for the Civil Service and for us at GLD. We have a Health and Wellbeing Action plan that outlines the actions GLD is taking to support our people, build a more sociable workplace and overcome emerging issues in the future.
Once again, congratulations to Barbara on her inauguration and many thanks to Sam Townend KC for his tremendous work as Bar Council Chair 2024. I am keen to continue our work with the Bar Council and with Barbara to help support her priorities. Thank you Barbara for ignoring those careers advisers who said someone like you could not make it at the Bar – you are an inspiration to us all!