The UK government has launched a £1.5 million-a-year scheme to help train up to 100 new criminal barristers every year.
The scheme, launched on Tuesday, September 1, will provide young people with the practical training they need to become qualified criminal barristers in England and Wales.
The government said the programme would give more talented people from different backgrounds the chance to enter the legal profession while also helping to address the shortage of criminal barristers.
Minister for Courts and Legal Services Sarah Sackman KC MP said the government wanted to make opportunities in the profession available to talented people regardless of their background.
She said the new scheme would help train the next generation of criminal barristers and support efforts to deliver justice more quickly to victims.
The government said the legal sector contributes more than £42 billion to the UK economy each year and needs a steady supply of skilled workers.
The scheme will provide funding for training places that would not otherwise be available. It builds on an existing programme run by the Council of the Inns of Court to support legal training.
The Criminal Bar Association welcomed the move, saying it would help bring more young lawyers into the profession and encourage people from a wider range of backgrounds to become criminal barristers.
The Bar Council also said the extra training places would help reduce delays in the criminal justice system caused by a shortage of criminal barristers.
Law chambers receiving the funding will be required to take steps to give people from different backgrounds a fairer chance of securing the training places.
The government said the initiative is part of its wider plan to improve the criminal justice system and reduce the backlog of cases in the Crown Courts, so victims can get justice more quickly.
