Member News
Members of the Dods Professional Bodies Dialogue have welcomed a report from Labour MP Alan Milburn, calling for a "bigger drive" to open up the professions to encourage social mobility.
Publishing a progress report "Fair Access to Professional Careers", Milburn, the government's independent reviewer on social mobility and child poverty said social mobility in the UK had "stagnated".
Committed to opening up the professions and increasing understanding of the role of professional bodies, the Dods Professional Bodies Dialogue brings together five organisations, the Law Society, Chartered Insurance Institute, Institute for Learning, British Computer Society and Institute of Customer Service.
President of the Law Society, John Wotton said the body "strongly supports efforts to increase social mobility".
Advocating for the solicitor's profession to have access to the best talent, regardless of social background he said the ambition was to be widely recognised as a "meritocracy".
Moving forward he said the Law Society "stands ready to work with other interested bodies to address the issues Alan Milburn has raised".
As insurance is not a 'gateway' profession, the biggest task for the Chartered Insurance Intitute (CII)is to raise awareness of the career opportunities insurance has to offer.
The CII has already taken several steps to increase awareness about career opportunities within the industry, including working with employers to promote insurance careers in state schools, FE colleges and universities across the UK
In an interview with PoliticHome's Central Lobby, David Thomson, director of policy and public affairs at the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) backed Milburn's call for a flexible route of entry into the professions.
"Because it is an industry and not just a profession there have been multiple points of entry," he said.
Chief executive of the Institute for Learning (IfL), Toni Fazaeli welcomed Alan Milburn's explicit recognition of further education's (FE) contribution as a driver of social mobility.
However she raised concern over the recommendations within Lord Lingfield's review into further education professionalism, which may "deprofessionalise" the FE workforce.
"Like lawyers, accountants and doctors, further education teachers act as social and ethical drivers in society, and their hard-earned high professional status reflects the level of responsibility for training tomorrow's workforce and professionals, in the public interest", she said.
The Dods Professional Bodies Dialogue held a roundtable with MPs and Peers, in December 2011, and is due to release a report which aims to debunk the myths around professional bodies and demonstrate the important role they play in improving standards and boosting the UK's economic competitiveness.