IP Inclusive has responded to the Legal Services Board (LSB)’s 27 November 2025 consultation on a proposed statement of policy for encouraging a diverse legal profession. Here you can download:
- The LSB’s consultation document and Annex A which sets out its draft statement of policy.
- IP Inclusive’s 26 February 2026 response and Annex I (a copy of our 2025 Impact Report).
The response was prepared with input from the IP Inclusive communities, its Advisory Board and its governing body IPIM.
The LSB’s proposals
The LSB wishes to encourage the front line regulators (including the Bar Standards Board, IP Regulation Board and Solicitors Regulation Authority) to strengthen and align their approaches to diversity. It is proposing to do this using (a) four high-level “outcomes” that all legal sector regulators must pursue and (b) a set of specific “expectations” about how they should do so. Some of the expectations are intended to be “core” (and thus mandatory); others are presented as “enhanced” and would be voluntary.
The IP Inclusive response
The key points of IP Inclusive’s response are:
- We applaud the LSB’s continuing focus on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the sector it regulates.
- We support the four proposed high-level outcomes.
- However, we have concerns about the mandatory nature of the “core” expectations.
- We urge the LSB to allow greater flexibility for individual regulators to collaborate with their respective communities so as to implement tailored, proportionate and cost-effective responses to EDI-related issues.
Citing the success of the IP Inclusive model of collaboration and inclusivity-focused change, driven from the ground up rather than imposed from above, we recommend a less prescriptive approach to the expectations. We ask the LSB to allow space for regulators to work alongside initiatives like IP Inclusive, pointing out that unduly formulaic and uniform interventions can limit such opportunities and that they risk undermining the valuable progress already being made to improve diversity in our sector.
Our submission points to the need for particular care in the current global climate. We have seen hostility towards diversity and inclusion in some jurisdictions and a growing “anti-woke” movement in many, exacerbated by economic, geopolitical and environmental challenges. At best these developments have led to constraints on EDI budgets. For larger businesses and for those with a global reach, in particular those that depend on overseas contracts, they can significantly limit the EDI-improving measures available. We believe that too heavy-handed an approach at this juncture could be counter-productive and could alienate the very people whose behaviours would benefit from change.
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IPReg’s response to the consultation can be found at https://ipreg.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-02/ipreg-response-to-lsb-diverse-profession-consultation-26022026.pdf. The LSB will be publishing other responses after the consultation closes on 2 March 2026.
Page published on 27th February 2026
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