Treasury Solicitor’s Department 400th signatory of Law Society Diversity Charter

The Treasury Solicitor’s Department has become the 400th signatory to the Law Society’s flagship Diversity and Inclusion Charter which was launched in 2009 with the support of BT and the Society of Asian Lawyers and gives firms of all sizes the chance to publicly commit to developing and implementing best practice in equality, diversity and inclusion. The Treasury Solicitor’s Department is also the first government department to sign up to the Charter.

Lucy Scott Moncrieff, chair of the Law Society Equality & Diversity Committee, praised the Treasury Solicitor’s Department for making a clear public commitment to promote the values of diversity, equality and inclusion throughout their practices. She encouraged other government departments to follow in their footsteps.

“We are very pleased to welcome the first government department to the Diversity and Inclusion Charter. Being a signatory is a sound indication that good practice is at the heart of their business plan. With the demographics of the UK changing rapidly, diversity is essential for solicitors to understand and meet the needs of the clients they serve.”

Sir Paul Jenkins, Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary of the Treasury Solicitor's Department said, "Diversity and inclusion is a priority for us. We cannot reasonably advise on legislation and laws that directly affect people if we are not representative of those people.

“As the department that provides legal services to most central government departments, there must be no compromise when it comes to inclusion. We aim for fairness and transparency in all our procedures and as a signatory to the Law Society Charter, we are making this a public commitment.”

The annual report of the Law Society Diversity and Inclusion Charter has shown overall improvements in equality and diversity practice, with 67% achieving higher scores overall. Since 2012 the proportion of firms achieving best practice ‘green’ standard has increased in all eight of the business areas of the Charter. The top two areas of performance this year were leadership and vision (also top in 2012) and monitoring and review.

The fourth Annual Review report details the work carried out by the signatories to the Law Society's Diversity and Inclusion Charter. The signatories range from small firms employing 25 or fewer employees to top 100 firms.

More about the Diversity & Inclusion Charter
More about the Annual Review 2013

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