Whitehall is set for a shake up as all-male interview panels and appointment shortlists were banned yesterday in an attempt to boost the amount of women in top roles.

While more than half of civil servants are women, the numbers are thin at the top with only 37 per cent of senior positions taken up by women.  Fawcett Society deputy chief executive Dr Eva Neitzert said that women make up 64 per cent of the lowest-paid members of the Civil Service yet only 29 per cent of those in the highest-paid positions.

She welcomed the measures, adding that “this announcement should see Whitehall leading the way to change this culture of employment discrimination.”

The programme will include board-level “diversity champions” and secretaries mentoring junior employees at all government departments. It is also hoped that interview training will eradicate bias during candidate selection. 

Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood said that government “can do even better” when it comes to the numbers of women in leadership positions.

“We have examined the actual barriers faced by women and are now addressing them,” echoed Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude. “For too long, too few talented women reached the highest levels.”

Dr Neitzert added that gender imbalances in the workplace are “not only bad for individual women but hugely damaging to the economy at large with talent simply going to waste.”