A major push to increase the number of women, disabled people, black, Asian and minority ethnic groups appointed to the boards of public bodies to reflect the wider population has been undertaken by the government.

Harriet Harman, minister for women & equality, and Ed Miliband, cabinet office minister, announced new measures to promote diversity as they cited only a third (34.4%) of public appointees are currently women, although women make up more than half of the population. The government therefore intends to increase the number of women appointees to at least 40% by 2011.

As part of the drive, the Women's National Commission has started a new project to increase the numbers of women applying for public appointments including improving advice and information on its website, involving its 500 partner organisations, increasing awareness of opportunities and encouraging women to apply.

The government intends to set new targets on race and disability, with people from ethnic minorities currently holding less than six per cent of posts, despite making up nearly eleven per cent of the population.

People with a disability current make up just one in twenty appointees, even though one in five of the working age population has a disability.

Other steps include giving the Commissioner for Public Appointments a stronger diversity remit, with the power to take steps to encourage and increase the number of women, disabled, and minority ethnic appointees.

Harman said: "We need to step up our efforts. Our ultimate aim is to have fair representation of women, black and Asian, and disabled people at every level of our democracy, including in public bodies. I'm going to keep a sharp eye on appointments made by each Government department."

Cabinet Office Minister Ed Miliband added: "Public bodies make key decisions which affect people's lives, whether it is funding choices about sport and the arts, protecting the environment or championing the public's rights and interests. It is essential that the people appointed to these bodies reflect the country we live in and the public they serve.

"That is why we are announcing these new measures to improve diversity in public appointments. These should ensure the best people to do these jobs, wherever they're from, know about the opportunities available. The measures should enable them to apply for such roles and make the widest possible pool of talent available from which to choose members of public bodies."

Last month the government outlined details of the Equality Bill, which included allowing organisations to take positive action to encourage and support under-represented groups to step forward and apply for roles, while maintaining the principle of selection on merit, so allow organisations to better reflect society.

The Bill will also increase transparency and shine a light on inequalities, which cannot be tackled if they are hidden. For example, public authorities will report on important inequalities like gender pay, disability employment and ethnic minority employment.