We are determined that no discrimination take place at Queen Square Chambers. We believe that no one should be discriminated against because of ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy or maternity, disability or age, and we take great care to ensure that there is equality of opportunity throughout Chambers.
Applications for staff vacancies, pupillages and tenancy are considered on merit, as are promotions. We monitor applications for the ethnicity, gender and disability of those we recruit to ensure we adhere to a diverse recruitment policy, but we do not set or work towards any targets.
In January 2020 our team were asked various diversity questions. 20 barristers and staff of chambers responded. Of those who consented to publication of their anonymised data the results were the following:
Barristers
There were 15 respondents from a total of 42. Not all respondents consented to the publication of their data.
Gender: <10 males; <10 females
Age: <10 members in each of ten-year categories from 16-24 up to 65+, with at least one in each.
Ethnicity: 13 members identified as British; <10 members identified as ‘Any other White background’; <10 members identified as Irish.
Staff
There were 5 respondents from a total of 7 staff, so all category responses were <10.
We were disappointed with the response rate which was low amongst barristers; that, coupled with the fact that we are not the largest set, means that we feel that the equality data produced are not of a high enough standard to provide any real value. More importantly, we do not believe they provide a true reflection of the diversity within our set.
We will be revisiting the survey in 2023 at the latest, when we will use the best communication we can to try to ensure the best possible response. We are committed to equality and diversity and we are determined to improve our showcasing of this.
If you’d like to read our policies on maternity/paternity leave, flexible working, harassment, disciplinary and grievance procedure, they are available on request. Please contact our Equality and Diversity Officer, Simon Goodman (Simon.Goodman@qsc.law).