The National School of Government offers positive action programmes and events for women managers and leaders in the UK Civil Service and wider public sector. We do this because of the under-representation of women in the Senior Civil Service (SCS).

We continue to ensure that our offerings are relevant and valuable to our customers because we understand both gender equality issues and latest thinking in leadership development. Our programmes are consistent with the Leadership Expectation Framework outlined by Sir Gus O'Donnell, Head of the Home Civil Service, and the Professional Skills for Government (PSG) Skills Set. Please go to Open and Tailored Programmes for further details.

We also ask our customers what is important to them. From a survey undertaken during our fourth International Women's Conference in February 2008* we learnt that public sector women like their potential and work experience to be recognised by others, and they like opportunities to progress and to nurture their talent. They also look to their colleagues and organisations to support their continuous development.

Organisations, HR departments and line managers all play a pivotal role in bringing on talent within the workplace and this is where the National School's programmes for women can assist.

In the past year, we have discovered that women attend our events increasingly through word-of-mouth recommendation. We are grateful to those customers who have given their permission for us to quote them against each of our programme entries.

Please contact me if you would like to discuss any aspect of our offerings.

Samantha Manning
Director, Women's Leadership Programmes
+44 (0) 1344 634 512, gtn 3803 4512
samantha.manning@nationalschool.gsi.gov.uk

* Survey findings reference: Pushing for Greater Gender Equality in the Public Sector . Samantha Manning, National School of Government (2008)