Politics Plus

Through our work we strive to: • provide the highest quality professional development opportunities for elected representatives, party support staff and public officials; • promote engagement between elected representatives and public officials at all levels of government; • strengthen the role of women and young people in political and public life; and • deliver international development and exchange programmes for elected representatives and public officials in states affected by conflict and instability. Since our launch, we have developed and delivered a range of highly successful programmes. These include stand-alone sessions on topics such as Scrutiny of Legislation and Effective Questioning, as well as more intensive courses, including our innovative Political Leadership Programme. A joint initiative focused on best practice has been developed with the National Assembly for Wales to enhance the leadership skills of Committee Chairpersons. In addition, we have built up a register of expert advisers who have been carefully selected to work on a one-to-one basis with Members for our Experts in Residence Programme. In a bid to fulfil another of our core objectives, strengthening the role of women, we have developed and launched various programmes targeted at redressing the gender imbalance in political and public life.