The legal profession's efforts to boost diversity have been praised in a new report by former cabinet minister Alan Milburn, who says law is taking genuine steps to support social mobility and urges banking and accountancy firms to follow suit.

In a progress report published this week, Milburn (pictured) – the Government's independent adviser on social mobility – highlighted co-ordinated outreach programmes such as PRIME and moves to collect socio-economic data as positive steps forward.

In the report, Milburn states: "In some cases the legal sector is at the forefront of driving activity aimed at changing access to professional jobs… We commend these efforts and would like to see other professions following suit."

However, Milburn warned that entry to the profession remains "too socially exclusive" and that the current speed of progress must "significantly accelerate".

Milburn added the legal profession has a special responsbility to represent the people it serves, or risk losing legitimacy. At the Bar, the most lucrative and secure positions remain the least socially diverse, while criminal and family law – two of the least well paid – contain more women and fewer privately educated individuals.

Among solicitors, the most recent figures show that in 2010, black and ethinic minority groups made up 11.9% of all registered practitioners, while women accounted for 45.8% of all solicitors.

The news comes as the Legal Services Board (LSB) confirmed that controversial plans to force law firms to publish internal diversity statistics on their websites have been pushed back to 2013.

It had been expected that the first round of publication would take place in December 2012. However, the LSB has now confirmed that publication will be delayed by one year.

The regulator stated: "We feel that in imposing this requirement at a time of huge change for our regulated community would be disproportionate, and may result in resistance to the request and a low response. This would risk jeopardising the whole initiative."

Milburn also gave a keynote speech at a PRIME event hosted by Allen & Overy (A&O) yesterday (30 May) which brought together stakeholders in the social mobility-focused work experience scheme, including participating law firms as well as others which are considering signing up. A&O senior partner David Morley also spoke at the event, which aimed to encourage the sharing of best practice and discuss the practicalities of actioning PRIME commitments.

The PRIME scheme is intended to raise the aspirations of students from under-privileged backgrounds by encouraging them to consider careers in the legal sector. Participating firms commit to providing an annual number of work experience placements equivalent to half their annual trainee intake to disadvantaged children aged between 14-18.

Click here to read Milburn's report.