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."