Three months after releasing incorrect tenancy statistic, the Bar Council and Bar Standards Board produce correct figure.
Tenancies have plunged by a whopping 38.1%, it has been confirmed, with newly registered tenancy numbers falling from 541 in 2010-2011 to 335 in 2011-2012 (the most recent year for which there are statistics).
But the fall, as huge as it is, is far less than had been feared. Back in April, the Bar Council and the Bar Standards Board made a major error in this year’s Bar Barometer, stating that tenancy numbers had dropped by an incredible 64%.
The finding briefly confused the legal press, including Legal Cheek, before an error was admitted by the embarrassed bodies and this apology issued:
“The recently published Bar Barometer listed the number of new tenancies for 2011/12 as 194. This figure is incorrect. We are in the process of confirming the final figure, but current indications are that it will be more closely aligned with previous years. We are seeking to understand how this error occurred and are looking at related statistics which may require amendment as a result. We will issue a further update as soon as we can and apologise for this mistake.”