On 10 February 2025, Craig Westwood, Chief Executive of the Legal Services Board, spoke at Westminster Legal Policy Forum’s event, ‘Next steps for equality, diversity and inclusion in the legal profession’. The speech is below. Check against delivery.
Speech by Craig Westwood
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Craig Westwood and I am the Chief Executive of the Legal Services Board. I’m really pleased to be here today and to be joining regulatory colleagues on this panel, after what has been a stimulating and largely inspiring morning, though with clear indications still of the challenges faced.
I have been at the LSB, and in the legal sector, for six months now. I joined from the Electoral Commission, where I spent eight years working to enable a diverse electorate to have their say at the ballot box; to support those experiencing barriers – physical, mental, or perceived – to participate in democracy; and to stimulate better engagement, including standing for election, so our elected chambers more accurately reflect the communities they serve.
Sounds different? Well, not really so different. I think the parallels with the issues we have been talking about today are clear. Professor Stephen Mayson has spoken persuasively in recent months about the status of legal services as a ‘public profession’, with a key role in society; and it is clear to me that, when barriers exist, whether to voting or legal services, it is that society that suffers.
For those of you who don’t know us, at the LSB we oversee the regulation of legal services in England and Wales. Independent of both the profession and government, we monitor the performance of the eight legal services regulators, including those represented on the panel here today. They, in turn, regulate lawyers and law firms.
Our founding legislation, the Legal Services Act 2007, sets broad and aspirational objectives for regulation to work towards, including to protect and promote the public and consumer interests; and to encourage an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession. In my view, all of these objectives are brought to bear on our subject for today.
Our sector-wide strategy to reshape legal services clearly sets out our commitments to achieving fairer outcomes for consumers, and dismantling barriers to a diverse profession at all levels. Of course, there is a critical link between these two. Equality, diversity, and a healthy professional culture in the legal profession are critical to supporting stronger confidence and improved services. This, in turn, will help create a sector which works more effectively for its employees, for its customers, for the economy and for society.
But words and strategies are always just the beginning, aren’t they? In my first few months in the sector, a message that has come across strongly to me is that, for some time now, we have talked passionately about understanding the problem, and about what needs to be done. And there are many examples of good activity, and some progress. But that progress has not been sufficient, and it has been too slow.
So, it really is time for real, decisive action to address the deep-rooted problems in the sector. It is time to begin a path of creating and sustaining a truly diverse and inclusive profession.
Later this year, the LSB will launch a consultation on proposed expectations for regulators to promote equality and boost diversity in the legal profession. I look forward to the debate around that, and to getting your input and contributions to making that the best and most effective tool possible to drive improvement. Ahead of that consultation, I want to take the time today to talk more broadly about the role that regulation can play.
I know that some in the sector feel that regulation is just about setting rules and stepping in when things go wrong. But it really is much more than that, as is clearly Parliament’s intention from the objectives set out in the Act. Regulation can and should be a powerful catalyst for change.
In the context of today’s discussions, it can help promote equality and encourage diversity. It helps create more routes for people to enter the profession and practice law. It sets up ongoing training and encourages strategies to promote equality and healthy professional and workplace cultures. In this way, regulation is a key driver of positive change. I know we’ll hear more detail about this from colleagues in the next two presentations. It can create a stronger, more outward-facing sector that will support positive outcomes for consumers and help our economy to thrive.
The profession has deep-rooted problems. We all need to tackle these challenges together. As the legal sector changes quickly, regulation must do more than just provide a safety net. It must focus on being innovative and proactive.
To improve the current professional culture, regulation needs to use both its more direct and indirect tools. Direct tools like setting standards; checking compliance; handling complaints; and enforcing rules. But also indirect interventions, including doing research; collecting data; bringing people together; working with others, and sharing good practices. I’d like to give some examples of how the LSB is already using these softer powers to support change.
In 2024, we carried out two important studies. First, we looked at the diversity gaps in legal professions that lead to the judiciary, specifically at solicitors, barristers, and chartered legal executives.. This was for the Judicial Diversity Forum, of which we are members. This found that women, racially minoritised groups, and people from state-funded schools face significant challenges in advancing within legal professions.
Next, we used a new systems mapping method to identify the various structural, cultural, and personal barriers that hinder equality, diversity, wellbeing, and positive professional cultures in law.
Drawing from an existing body of evidence and through interviews with stakeholders in the sector, this pointed to several ongoing concerning issues in the profession. These include: elitist attitudes; undervaluing non-traditional career paths; bullying and harassment; performance assessed more by hours worked than outputs delivered; unfair work distribution, and biased hiring practices.
This research adds to the existing evidence base, enhancing the overall understanding of the seemingly intractable barriers we face in the legal sector, and provides valuable tools and insights to help address these challenges.
The LSB has also been working increasingly in partnership with others. We collaborate with the regulators we oversee through our Legal Regulators EDI Forum, sharing best practice and influencing activities for more effective results, but also with representative bodies, professional networks, academics, thought-leaders, government, and organisations outside our sector.
In 2022, we co-signed a shared commitment with legal services regulators and the sector’s tribunal bodies to tackle behaviours and practices that go against our shared vision of a fair and inclusive profession. The signatories agreed to use their standards codes, and processes for regulatory discipline and enforcement, to reflect their commitment.
And we currently require regulators to gather and share data about the diversity of the professionals they oversee. But we also expect regulators to go beyond simply collecting data from their regulated communities, using it to understand their regulated communities; shape effective activities; work in partnership with others, and report their progress in promoting diversity.
These are all important examples of action. However, the pace of change is slow. Too slow. So, as I mentioned, we have concluded that it is time for us to review our approach and consider an evolution of it bring about the results we want to see.
We have researched the systemic barriers to equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing in the profession. We have worked closely with professional groups and others to understand the deeper, ongoing problems that stop workplaces from being truly fair and welcoming to everyone. This has helped us identify where regulation specifically may play a role.
We have also worked with the regulators we oversee, to understand the activities they carry out, to identify opportunities to improve approaches, where needed, but also to draw on and promote the pursuit of effective practice where it exists.
The approach we are developing will set renewed expectations for regulators and challenge them to take more proactive and targeted action. We will also look to use our non-statutory levers more effectively to drive the longer-term cultural and behavioural changes we want to achieve.
To end where I began, some think the profession itself should be the only leader in promoting equality, diversity, and positive cultures. I disagree. Regulation that is proportionate, targeted and supports sector growth can play a strong and positive role in driving change. We not only have the right to act – we have a statutory duty to act. People who need legal services need us to act. We must ensure that regulation does everything it can, within the bounds of its remit, to create the strong, inclusive legal profession that the public deserves and society needs.
In our forthcoming consultation we will set out a clear mission and purpose, using robust evidence to guide our actions and using effective evaluation frameworks to assess the impact of our efforts.
But regulation is only part of the picture. We must work with the profession and others to achieve our aims. I am aware that I am largely preaching to the choir here today, given the variety of activities and actions taken collectively by speakers and attendees here.
I look forward to working with you all to turning our collective ambition into reality. Thank you.
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