A key role of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, a government sponsored think tank, is to provide expert, evidence-based advice on skills and employment issues. In this capacity they were asked by Government in 2009 to produce an annual national strategic skills audit for England, involving a comprehensive analysis of England’s current and future skill needs. The first such report has now been published.

Among the welter of statistics contained in the report, one line stands out in the table of the fastest growing occupations in England 2001 to 2009. The number of legal associate professionals in England has increased from 24,509 in 2001 to 51,250 in 2009 – a rise of 109%. The report predicts that demand for paralegals will continue to grow, given the nature of much transactional work and greater competition in the legal services market following the introduction of alternative business structures. To this end the report  states, in an unlovely phrase,  that: “In the legal services sub-sector there will be a need to up-skill para-legals in transactional work along with enhanced procurement and tendering skills required in response to the introduction of market-based Legal Aid procurement”. The report also identifies a growing need in the legal services sector for business, change and risk management skills, and greater commercial acumen.

Enter Skills for Justice, the sector skills council and standards setting body for the justice sector, who claim that across the UK they help justice and community safety employers to identify their skills and workforce development needs, and provide high quality solutions. They have announced that they are expanding to add legal services into their remit, a move which they recognise comes at a time of considerable change in the legal world, following the Legal Services Act, the globalisation of legal services, consideration of new routes to professional occupations, and the growing use of paralegals by firms of solicitors. In their words: “In this period of change it is important that there is a strong focus on skills to ensure that standards are maintained and that the 450,000 people in the legal sector have the right skills at the right time to deliver world class legal services and preserve the UK’s position as a recognised international centre of legal excellence”. They aim to work closely with employers and key stakeholders across legal services “to understand their key skills and workforce development challenges”.

Desmond Hudson, Chief Executive of the Law Society, welcomed the involvement of Skills for Justice. He said: “We are confident that those of our members who are employers will benefit from the inclusion of legal services in the Skills for Justice portfolio. The move will also benefit staff involved at all levels of the profession. This is a very positive step and will open up opportunities in terms of developing skills and sharing expert knowledge throughout the workforce, for the benefit of the public and the profession.”

The UKCES report, ‘Skills for Jobs: Today and Tomorrow; The National Strategic Skills Audit for England 2010, Volume 1: Key Findings’ can be found at:

http://www.ukces.org.uk/upload/pdf/NSSA_Volume%201_FINAL_BOOKMARKED_110310.pdf