Last Thursday, we hosted our regular conference for LGBT civil servants. The conference was at the BEIS Conference Centre in central London. More than 200 civil servants representing representing over 40 government departments and agencies attended the event.

Speakers and workshops

Throughout the day, we heard from 4 fantastic keynote speakers: Sue Owen, Permanent Secretary for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Civil Service Diversity Champion; Caroline Dinenage MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years; Paul Twocock, Director of Campaigns, Policy and Research; and Monty Moncrieff, Chief Executive of London Friend.

Sue Owen spoke about the progress the Civil Service is making on diversity and inclusion, and the future plans for updating the Talent Action Plan.

Caroline Dinenage MP spoke to delegates about the important role played by the Government Equalities Office, and the proud record of successive governments in furthering the rights of LGBT people.

Paul Twocock reflected on the turbulent political events in 2017, and how we can’t take progress on equalities for granted.

Monty Moncrieff spoke about the user needs LGBT people have, from the perspective of an LGBT services provider.

We also had a range of workshops from experts across government throughout the day. The workshops covered themes including LGBT hate crime and safety, government equalities policy, mental health, role modelling and more.

We also hosted a panel discussion, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales.

Recognising Impact

We also announced our intention to create a Civil Service LGBT Impact Index, celebrating the achievements and contributions of civil servants and teams on LGBT equality.

Nominations will open later in March, and we’ll be hosting an awards evening in September. Look out for more details soon.

Annual Report

We provided our annual report at the Conference too. It was in video form, so we can share it with you now too.

See you next time

We hope you enjoyed the conference. Let us know your thoughts and feedback: email us at info@ukcsra.com.