The Inner Temple is committed to making reasonable adjustments to ensure its activities are accessible and providing support and fair opportunity to all.

This policy sets out the approach that we take to identifying where reasonable adjustments are required and how we respond proactively to this. The scope of this policy includes committee meetings, educational events, courses and residential weekends, Call ceremonies and scholarship interviews.

The Equality Act (2010) provides protection against discrimination, harassment, and victimisation on the grounds of disability and other protected characteristics.

A person is disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This encompasses individuals with physical or sensory impairments, mental ill health, specific learning difficulties, and a range of chronic or fluctuating conditions.

It is unlawful to discriminate against a disabled person in relation to the provision of education and related services. However, it is lawful to treat a disabled person more favourably because of their disability.

Inclusive design of teaching and assessment content is at the heart of how we work and ensures that accessibility is embedded in all of our educational activities. 

We take an anticipatory approach to reasonable adjustments. We design our events, courses and assessments with inclusion in mind and we test this routinely with Equality Impact Assessments. We are mindful that adjustments may still be required and our policy and procedures set out how these will be considered with the aim of removing any barriers for disabled members. In the case of interviews and/or assessments, we can only make adjustments to the assessment arrangements and not the standard of the assessment. 

Providing reasonable adjustments features in all procedures relating to educational events planning. The policy is available on our website.  

You can apply for a reasonable adjustment if you have a permanent or temporary disability, medical condition or learning need.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to:

• Inform members about how to request a reasonable adjustment and how it will be responded to,
• Support staff at the Inn to comply with relevant equality legislation,
• Outline the necessary steps for the effective implementation of reasonable adjustments,
• Inform students how to appeal a decision made in relation to a reasonable adjustment for scholarship interviews

Applying for a reasonable adjustment

Applications for Membership

We will make reasonable adjustments so that people with disabilities find it easy to complete the forms relating to their application for admission to the Inn. The application form and accompanying information is currently available on the Inn’s website. If you require the application form and accompanying information in a different format, you should contact the Membership Registrar in the Treasury Office, who will acknowledge your reasonable adjustments request upon receipt. On occasion we may request further information from you to ensure we fully understand what is required. We will contact you within two weeks of receipt of your request to confirm what adjustments we are able to put in place.

Committee Meetings

You should submit any requests for reasonable adjustments which will enable you to participate fully in Inn committee meetings ideally at the time of appointment to the committee. Your request should be submitted in writing to the Committee secretary. In the case of new disabilities or changes to your reasonable adjustment requirements, you should ideally inform the Secretary no later than four weeks prior to the next meeting date. This allows time to plan and implement any changes which might be necessary and ensure that they are feasible. Later notification may mean we are unable to accommodate the reasonable adjustments on this occasion as there is insufficient time to implement any changes. Normally we would be able to put this in place for subsequent meetings.

Examples of reasonable adjustments to meetings may include:

• closed captions on zoom meetings
• moving the meeting to a more suitable room if one is available e.g. to provide easier access
• recorded minutes

The Secretary will acknowledge your request on receipt and respond to you a minimum of two weeks prior to the meeting to confirm what adjustments will be put in place.

Educational events, courses and residential weekends

If you require a reasonable adjustment for an educational event, ideally you should submit a request a minimum of four weeks in advance. This allows time to plan and implement any changes which you require and ensure that they are feasible. Later notification may mean we are unable to accommodate the reasonable adjustments as there is insufficient time to put your requirements in place.

In the case of courses e.g. New Practitioners or Pupils courses, a member of the Education and Training team will contact you to ask about a range of requirements, including reasonable adjustments, at the point that you have been allocated a place on the course. This information will be used to make reasonable adjustments for all elements of the programme.

In the case of individual events (Qualifying sessions, CPD events, outreach sessions), applicants will be asked at the point of booking whether they require any reasonable adjustments.

The type of reasonable adjustment may vary depending on whether the educational activity is online or in-person and whether it is a one-off lecture or a programme of learning. Some examples of reasonable adjustments include:

• recording content
• provision of materials in different formats e.g. online, coloured paper, large print
• additional time to prepare course activities
• quiet areas
• additional detailed information about course structure and activities
• accessible rooms with disabled facilities at residentials

A member of the Education and Training team will acknowledge your reasonable adjustments request upon receipt. On occasion we may request further information from you to ensure we fully understand what is required. We will contact you within two weeks of receipt of your request to confirm what adjustments we are able to put in place.

Call to the Bar ceremony

 The Call to the Bar ceremony is an important celebration and recognition of your achievement of becoming a barrister. The ceremonies are often very large events which require a considerable amount of organising. To ensure that the day goes smoothly for you and provides the best experience for you and your family, we ask that you give us much notice as possible of any reasonable adjustments.

We will make reasonable adjustments so that people with disabilities find it easy to complete any forms relating to their Call to Bar application. If you require the application form in a different format, there is information on our website about who to contact.

Once a student member has a confirmed place on the Call list, there is a specific question on the online confirmation form relating to reasonable adjustments for themselves and their guests who will be attending the ceremony.

A member of the Education and Training team will acknowledge your reasonable adjustments request upon receipt. On occasion we may request further information from you to ensure we fully understand what is required. We will contact you within two weeks of receipt of your request to confirm what adjustments we are able to put in place.

Scholarship interviews

 If you wish to request reasonable adjustments during the scholarship selection process you should fill in the Request for Adjustments section on your application form.

We do not routinely ask you to provide evidence to support the disability (such as a diagnostic assessment for learning impairments, medical or GP’s letters/reports for physical or mental health conditions, or existing DSA needs assessment). However given the high stakes of the selection process, the Inn reserves the right to request submission of evidence.

Evidence must be:

• written by independent and appropriately qualified professionals.
• on headed paper, signed and dated by the author/ practitioner
• written in English [1]
• unaltered by the applicant. Documentation that has been amended for any reason will be deemed inadmissible.

A member of the Education and Training team will acknowledge your reasonable adjustments request within two weeks of the application submission deadline. Within two weeks of receipt of your request we will confirm what adjustments we are able to put in place.

If you have a new reasonable adjustment request after the deadline, you must contact the Outreach and Scholarships team in writing via email as soon as possible. Later notification may mean we are unable to accommodate the reasonable adjustments as there is insufficient time to put your requirements in place: however we will always endeavour to do so.

Mini pupillages/ PASS scheme

If you wish to request reasonable adjustments during the PASS selection process you should complete the Request for Adjustments at Interview section on the application form.

A member of the Education and Training team will acknowledge your reasonable adjustments request within two weeks of the application submission deadline. Within two weeks of receipt of your request we will confirm what adjustments we are able to put in place.

If you have a new reasonable adjustment request after the deadline, you must contact the Outreach and Scholarships team via email as soon as possible. Later notification may mean we are unable to accommodate the reasonable adjustments as there is insufficient time to put your requirements in place: however we will always endeavour to do so.

If you wish to request reasonable adjustments for any PASS-related event, including your PASS mini-pupillage, you should complete the Request for Reasonable Adjustment question in the Additional Details Form sent out to you if you are allocated a confirmed place on the scheme.

Should you wish us to share your reasonable adjustment request with the partner chamber hosting you for your mini-pupillage you should indicate that you give permission for us to do this on the Additional Details Form. Please note that if you do not provide permission this may restrict the adjustments that can be made for you.

A member of the education and training team will acknowledge your reasonable adjustments request within two weeks of the form submission deadline. Within two weeks of receipt of your request we will confirm what adjustments we are able to put in place.

Data Protection

By submitting a request for reasonable adjustments, the applicant agrees to personal data being held for the purposes of processing the request, in accordance with the 2018 Data Protection Act.

If you would like your disability information to remain confidential, you will be advised if this will restrict the adjustments that can be made for you. This would be the case if circumstances are such that staff, trainers or interview panellists would need to know who you are in order to make the relevant adjustment.

In line with our data retention schedules, any information relating to reasonable adjustments will be held only for the time relevant to specific activity e.g. committee membership, duration of course.

Appealing a decision

You will be notified in writing (usually via email) of the outcome of the decision regarding adjustments. If a reasonable adjustment request is declined, the reasons for this will be provided. In the case of scholarship interviews this will include details of how you may challenge this decision if you feel it is incorrect, unfair, or unreasonable.

A review panel will normally be convened within two weeks of your appeal. The panel will comprise:

• Master of Wellbeing or Deputy Master of Wellbeing
• EDI Sub-Committee representative
• Director of Education or Sub-Treasurer

Members of the review panel will not have been directly involved in the original decision.

You will be asked to provide evidence to support your reasons for challenging the decision.

[1] It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide supporting documentation and any translation should be undertaken by an accredited translator (e.g. be a member of the Association of Translation Companies – https://www.atc.org.uk). The responsibility, and any potentials costs, rest entirely with the applicant. 

This policy sets out the approach that we take to identifying where reasonable adjustments are required and how we respond proactively to this. The scope of this policy includes access into and around buildings, and alternative facilities available.

The Equality Act 2010 provides protection against discrimination, harassment, and victimisation on the grounds of disability and other protected characteristics.

A person is disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This encompasses individuals with physical or sensory impairments, mental ill health, specific learning difficulties, and a range of chronic or fluctuating conditions.

It is unlawful to discriminate against a disabled person in relation to the provision of access to property and related services. However, it is lawful to treat a disabled person more favourably because of their disability.

The physical constraints of the Inn’s buildings, and their protected character via Listing and the Conservation Area policies limits the level of access that can be provided, but other opportunities to apply reasonable adjustments may exist through other means. Assisting in the provision of alternative solutions is at the heart of how we work and ensures that accessible premises are provided for those that require them. 

We have already provided a number of measures to aid accessibility into the Inn’s buildings and take a reactive approach to other reasonable adjustment requests from tenants and residents. We are mindful that adjustments may still be required, and our policy and procedures set out how these will be considered with the aim of removing any barriers for disabled members.

The Inn’s Treasury Building refurbishment was designed to ensure that the widest cross-section of our membership, and those outside our membership who use our facilities can do so. Reasonable adjustments feature in all procedures relating to events planning. The policy is available on the Inn’s website.  

You can apply for a reasonable adjustment if you have a permanent or temporary disability, medical condition or learning need.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to:

• Inform tenants and residents about how to request a reasonable adjustment and how it will be responded to,
• Support staff at the Inn to comply with relevant equality legislation,
• Outline the necessary steps for the effective implementation of reasonable adjustments,

Applying for a reasonable adjustment

Barrister Conferences

Requests for accessible accommodation (where chambers’ normal rented accommodation precludes access), for the purposes of a conference between barrister and client, involving a disabled barrister or client, should be made to the Catering Sales and Marketing Department, who will allocate an accessible room, free of charge, but subject to availability.

Events, seminars, and courses held by chambers

If chambers require a reasonable adjustment for such an event, such as accessible accommodation for an event where disabled delegates are expected, a request for suitable accommodation should be made to Catering Sales & Marketing at the earliest opportunity. This will be provided, subject to availability, at normal hire rates.

Pupillage interviews

If chambers require a reasonable adjustment for such an event, such as accessible accommodation for an event where disabled pupil(s) are expected, a request for suitable accommodation should be made to Catering Sales & Marketing at the earliest opportunity. This will be provided, subject to availability, free of charge, but with any requested refreshments at normal costs of provision.

Applying for reasonable adjustments within chambers or residences

Any chambers tenant or resident may seek the Inn’s advice on the provision of reasonable adjustments within chambers or residences. The advice given will depend on the nature of the adjustment requested, the reason for the requested adjustment, and the feasibility of its provision, given the protected historic fabric of the majority of the Inn’s estate, and guide the applicant through any associated planning or conservation aspects. Dependent upon the nature of the requested adjustment, and the extent to which it confers long-term benefit to the premises, the Inn may offer to fully fund, or contribute towards the adjustment. A challenge to a refusal of funding may be put in writing and placed before the Inn’s Estates Committee, whose decision shall be final.

Data Protection

By submitting a request for reasonable adjustments, the applicant agrees to personal data being held for the purposes of processing the request, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

If disability information is required to remain confidential, the applicant will be advised if this will restrict the adjustments that can be made. This would be the case if circumstances are such that staff, or other personnel, would need to know who you are in order to make the relevant adjustment.

In line with the Inn’s data retention schedules, any information relating to reasonable adjustments will be held only for the time relevant to specific activity.

Appealing a decision

A challenge, to a refusal of Inn funding for a reasonable adjustment request, or where the Inn considers that it is for the applicant to make the reasonable adjustment, may be made in writing by the applicant and placed before the Inn’s Estates Committee, whose decision shall be final. If a reasonable adjustment request is declined, the reasons for this will be provided.

You will be asked to provide evidence to support your reasons for challenging the decision.