An action plan to help women break down gender barriers at work has sprung from a report co-produced by a Bradford charity chief.

Adeeba Malik helped develop more than 40 recommendations for a government report called Shaping A Fairer Future.

They have been implemented by Ruth Kelly, the Minister for Women and Communities, in the new action plan, which she said will help take women from the playground to the boardroom.

The plan includes measures recommended by the Women and Work Commission, of which Miss Malik was a member.

It will improve opportunities for women to get on at work and encourage a culture change within those companies and organisations failing to see the huge economic potential of their female workforce.

Miss Malik, deputy chief executive of Bradford-based QED - which aims to achieve a society in which people from all backgrounds are able to play a full role - said she believed the plan was initially due to run as a pilot in London but she hoped it would be rolled out to other parts of the country, including Bradford.

She said: "It is not just to breach the gap between men and women, but to improve the quality of labour forces."

Construction worker and mum-of-one Sarah Payne, 26, from Lower Grange, Bradford, said the measures would be a great help to women with or planning children. "I think it's a good idea if someone can come back into work after having children," she said, adding that often responsibility for children fell onto women.

"Women should be given that little bit of help in this," she said.

Sandy Needham, chief executive of Bradford Chamber of Commerce said it was impossible to generalise about women's needs and ambitions in the workplace. She said: "I think they need to have a very good support, with families and childcare to make it happen. I think that's a choice, and I think not something that should be part of government policy.

"Women are as individual as men, both can have other commitments," she said.

Mrs Needham said many companies had already made changes to their policy and attitude in terms of employing women before and after having children.

"It's good progress if it's helping to make it happen rather than using the big stick of legislation to make the changes," she said.

Mrs Kelly said: "We have given parents the basic rights to improve their choices and help them succeed at home and at work.

But the challenge now is to ensure we establish a long-term change in attitude and a major expansion of opportunities, with businesses helping individuals make the most of their talents."

Proposals include
  • developing programmes to help women return to work get quality part-time work, flexible working and job-share registers.
  • rolling out Equality Reps' to step up awareness of flexible working rights and discrimination issues by working alongside statutory union representatives.
  • a new equality check to help companies spot emerging problems with equal treatment of staff such as determining the level of gender pay gap.
  • a £500,000 fund to help companies and organisations increase the number of senior and quality part-time roles.