Baroness Ruth Deech, chair of the Bar Standards Board (BSB), said: “We are committed to ensuring that the Bar has appropriate structures in place to record important equality and diversity data and for chambers to be more proactive in the way they approach equality and diversity.”

Meanwhile, the BSB has embarked on a series of road shows across England and Wales as part of its consultation on a new Code of Conduct, to be known as the BSB Handbook.

The BSB hopes the Handbook will be easier to navigate than the existing Code. It is also consulting on a new risk based approach to regulation, which would focus resources on the riskiest areas and encourage compliance through supervision and monitoring while disciplinary sanctions would be reserved for the most serious cases of breach.