Page 48 - Judicial Diversity Update report

2.70. Since our last report, the JAC has started collecting and publishing data on the
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social background of those who apply and are appointed to judicial office.
This is a welcome development. At present the Judicial Office does not publish
social mobility data for sitting judges. However, we understand that they have
begun to collect this data and will start to publish it from 2020, which we also
welcome.

2.71. The approach to data collection in respect of socio-economic background is
less established than other diversity characteristics. Many bodies – including
the JAC and the Bar Standards Board – use two measurements: the type of
secondary school the person attended, 113 and whether they were the first in
their family to attend university (assuming they went to university). We
understand that that the Judicial Office is using these indicators as well.
However, recent research published by the Bridge Group and adopted by the
Cabinet Office finds that the most effective indicator of social background is
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parental occupation at the age of 14. While the JAC and Judicial Office are
to be commended for collecting schooling information, they could provide a
more accurate and complete picture of socio-economic background if they
followed best practice and also gathered information on parental occupation or
whether the judges’ parents received income support. This would allow for a
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proper assessment of social mobility.

112 Judicial Appointments Commission, ‘Judicial Selection and Recommendations for Appointment:
Official Statistics, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018’, June 2018, available online at
https://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/sites/default/files/sync/about_the_jac/official_statistics/statis
tics-bulletin-jac-2017-18.pdf. Some of the challenges we acknowledge we face with drawing any firm
conclusions on social background include the fact that there is a general absence of data from poor
response rates by the professions and the judiciary, and also that the JAC has only just begun to collect
data itself.
113 The JAC continues to categorise the answers to the question on the type of school people attend as
a binary “state school” or “private school.” This limited classification fails to account for, for example:
highly selective state grammar schools; pupils eligible for free school meals who attended a private
school on a full scholarship; and individuals with lower social mobility who attended UK private
schools as a benefit of their parents’ employment (for example, children of service personnel serving
overseas).
114 The Bridge Group, ‘Socio-Economic Diversity in the Fast Stream’, (2016) available online at
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497
341/BG_REPORT_FINAL_PUBLISH_TO_RM__1_.pdf
115 The JAC continues to categorise the answers to the question on the type of school people attend as
a binary “state school” or “private school.” This limited classification fails to account for, for example:
highly selective state grammar schools; pupils eligible for free school meals who attended a private
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