Over the last twenty years, countries around the world have embarked on ambitious programmes to modernise their public sector and to improve the quality of the services they provide. Governments have looked to the private sector for tips on how to organise and manage public organisations. They have applied new policy making tools to enable them to deliver public services that meet the needs of citizens and have strengthened relationships across government, and with private and civil society organisations, to ensure that services are better designed, delivered and regulated.

Public servants are crucial to the success of reform. The development of a robust and adaptive public service ethos has been central to the modernisation process in many countries. Public servants have a responsibility to the citizen not only to deliver effective services, but equally to behave and act in an appropriate and accountable manner.

The British Council international seminar in association with CIPFA will address challenges facing public sector leaders as they seek to modernise including:

• How to strike the balance between political direction and public service independence
• Valuing and promoting a motivated, diverse and multi-skilled public sector
• Strengthening public service culture, ethics and integrity
• Joining up policy and practice across government and working with civil society
• Demonstrating accountable and open government
• Strengthening public sector governance

Who should attend this seminar
The seminar is aimed at politicians, policy makers and advisers to government, working with the civil and public service in areas such as human resource management, leadership development, audit and performance management, public sector ethics and public sector governance. It is also aimed at non-governmental organisations, independent scrutiny bodies, academics and the representatives from the media who are actively working to strengthen accountable and transparent processes of government.

Participants will be encouraged to participate actively in the seminar in plenary, workshop and on visits. The seminar will be designed to draw on international experiences, as well as policy approaches in the UK. Participants will be asked to undertake a small amount of preparatory work in advance of the seminar and to bring case studies.