to ask whether jobs in civil service are as family friendly as they're cracked up to me

[guinea36]

or is it just lip service? Hoping to get the thoughts of those who work there.
I'm looking for an interesting, decently paid job with good career prospects that is reasonably family friendly, as I suspect my current job's crazy hours might be a bit challenging in the long run with baby..
See lots of interesting civil service jobs advertised on Mumsnet offering flexible working etc. I've looked at a couple of interesting looking roles at SEO/ Grade 7 level in Whitehall. They all talk about job shares, Flexi and part time etc but in reality would I really be considered if I were to suggest this on my application?
In addition what are the opportunities for progression like if for instance you are working four days a week? Are promotions generally only limited to those working full time?
Would it be better to go full time initially, which should be possible
and then see if if I could come to some kind of flexible working arrangement once I'd built up a bit of goodwill, a little later down the line. How likely would this be accommodated or is it better to ask for what you want to start with.
Thank you for your help...

My DP works for them and has lots of colleagues who jobshare etc so I think there is a lot of flexibility. This may differ between departments though. DP is with DWP who I think are one of the better ones. Not all jobs will be compatible with part-time working but it's so huge that there will always be something available. They keep a bank record of people who are looking for a jobshare so you can be matched with someone. Promotions are all competency based so it stands to reason that the fewer days you do, the longer it will take to build up the relevant competencies in that area compared to full timers but it's not impossible.

I don't know if any job shares but in my office there are loads of reduced hours/part time workers. Also lots of opportunity to work from home for a proportion of the week either ad hoc or as a permanent arrangement.

I job share in the civil service. It works great in terms of work/life balance. It's getting better, you often see adverts out for job shares now and networking events. It still hard to find one that works though and I think even harder to pick up interesting work or be mobile in you career.

If you applied via a generic recruitment round I wouldn't worry too much about asking for part time from the off. If it's an individual job then they will probably give some indication on the job spec.