Select committees currently accepting written evidence (compiled 5 February 2025) 

Please click the title of any inquiry listed below to be taken to a summary of that inquiry and the full call for evidence. Remember that you don’t have to answer every question posed in each call for evidence.

New calls for evidence:

** This is a private or hybrid bill which you can petition against, not a call for evidence. 

All other inquiries currently accepting written evidence:

Why should I engage? Submitting evidence to a select committee can lead to further engagement, such as an invitation to give oral evidence. Your submission will be published on the committee webpage. Your insights may inform the committee’s conclusions or the recommendations it makes to the government. Find out more about why to engage with Parliament. You can also read more on engagement for impact.

More information Explore all select committee inquiries currently open for submissions of written evidence. 

Resources Find guidance on submitting evidence to select committees on the KEU’s ‘how to guides’ page. Watch our 30 minute online training session “How to work with select committees”

Contribute to an upcoming POSTnote

POSTnotes are short, peer-reviewed evidence briefings on emerging areas of research. They are widely read by Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff, and often inform select committee inquiries. POST is calling for research contributions and information relevant to the upcoming briefings below.

POSTnotes currently accepting contributions:

To share your research to inform an upcoming POSTnote, please email post@parliament.uk.

How to reach out to share your research for an upcoming POSTnote

Researchers can feed into POST research projects by following the instructions on the contributing to POST research as an expert webpage. Researchers need only submit:

  • Their name.
  • A link to their online research/expert profile.
  • A personal statement (maximum 250 words) describing:
    • your relevant skills, experience and knowledge,
    • key issues relevant to the project that you would like to make us aware of.
  • Links to papers, publications, or blogs you have written that are relevant to the project topic, where available. Please link to open access sources if you can.

Please familiarise yourself with this guidance before submitting your contribution to a new POST projects.  

Reminder: contributions can be emailed to post@parliament.uk until the deadlines stated above. 

Why should I engage? 
POSTnotes are used by Members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords and UK Parliament staff to navigate complex research. Contributing to a POSTnote is a good way of feeding your expertise into the UK Parliament as part of a trusted, impartial publication.

All contributors are acknowledged when the POSTnote is published. On publication, you and your organisation’s communications team will be notified to publicise the POSTnote and your contribution. Therefore your contribution can help raise your profile and promote your research. 

More information

Science, Innovation and Technology Committee new inquiry: “Digital Centre of Government”

Following the general election, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) announced plans to become the “digital centre of government”. It was also confirmed that the Government Digital Service, Central Digital and Data Office and Incubator for Artificial Intelligence would move from the Cabinet Office into DSIT, to “unite efforts in the digital transformation of public services under one department”.

The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee has launched an inquiry to suggest priorities for the new Government Digital Service, scrutinise the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s planned approach to implementation, and identify opportunities and challenges.

The committee is particularly keen to hear from researchers with expertise in the use of data in the public sector, public sector procurement and digital transformation projects. Submissions can be as brief and targeted as you like, and the committee is particularly interested in practical recommendations that can be directed towards the government and public sector bodies. They are also open to witness suggestions.

The call for submissions is open until March 2nd.

To find out more and submit evidence, please visit the committee’s webpage or contact Ben Shave, inquiry manager: shaveb@parliament.uk

Why should I engage? Submitting evidence to a select committee can lead to further engagement, such as an invitation to give oral evidence. Your submission will be published on the committee webpage. Your insights may inform the committee’s conclusions or the recommendations it makes to the government. Find out more about why to engage with Parliament. You can also read more on engagement for impact.

More information Explore all select committee inquiries currently open for submissions of written evidence. 

Resources Find guidance on submitting evidence to select committees on the KEU’s ‘how to guides’ page. Watch our 30 minute online training session “How to work with select committees”

Social Mobility research and expertise needed!

The House of Lords Social Mobility Special Inquiry Committee is considering how educational and work opportunities could be better integrated to improve social mobility in the UK. They are calling for researchers and experts whose discipline covers social mobility in its broadest sense to make themselves known to the committee.

The committee is keen to receive diverse evidence and views on social mobility and welcomes contact from researchers at all career stages and types of institution, including contributions from researchers who have not previously engaged with Parliament.  

Please complete this form to make yourself, and your research, known to the committee. It asks you to introduce yourself, for your contact details, and, if you wish, to share links to your research and a short summary of your main findings. There is also the opportunity to recommend to the committee what you feel they should focus on through the inquiry.

The committee may use the information you share to access your research and other publications, or to invite researchers to contribute to the committee’s work by:

  • corresponding with the committee,
  • presenting in private to the committee, 
  • publicly submitting written evidence or giving oral evidence, or
  • advising the committee.

If you are a researcher whose work focuses solely on specific or niche aspects of social mobility please do not respond to this call. The committee is only seeking researchers who have an overview of social mobility at this stage. There will be an additional call in the coming months for researchers with a specific social mobility focus to engage with the committee.

The deadline to respond is Friday 28 February 2025.
Complete this form to respond.

Why should I engage? Making yourself known to committee and other parliamentary staff can lead to opportunities to contribute your expertise and insights to Parliament. These may include being called to give oral evidence, contributing to a briefing, or participating in a roundtable or seminar.

More information: You can find out more about the new 2025 Lords Special Inquiry Committees here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/media-centre/house-of-lords-media-notices/2024/december-2024/lords-liaison-committee-recommend-four-new-committees-for-2025/

I Heart Arts and Humanities

Keep your eyes peeled, folks, as we’ve got some creative thoughts on Arts and Humanities research and its parliamentary relevance that will shortly be coming your way! 

Reminders

A gallery with no paintings…

Visiting the UK Parliament is a fascinating experience. Anyone is welcome to visit Parliament, and to take a seat in the public gallery in each Chamber* to observe business. If you’d like to attend a session, check the calendar on the UK Parliament website to see when the House of Commons and the House of Lords are in session. 

Different parliamentary business takes place in the Chambers. At the heart of parliamentary activity are Debates, where MPs discuss and argue about proposed laws, government policies, and important issues. These debates can be broad or very specific, focusing on particular aspects of a bill. Question Time is another crucial element, providing a platform for MPs to hold government ministers to account by asking them questions. Prime Minister’s Questions is the most famous example, but other ministers also face questioning. Ministers also make statements to the House, often to announce new policies or provide updates, and these are usually followed by MPs asking questions.

For matters of urgent public importance, MPs can request an urgent question, requiring a minister to address the House. At the end of the day, adjournment debates allow MPs to raise specific concerns that might not have been covered elsewhere.

(*there aren’t any paintings in the chambers, but there are plenty on the corridors that lead to them!)

So what? It’s super exciting coming into Parliament and heading into one of the galleries to watch the business in a Chamber; some of us have been doing this for nearly a decade and we’re still not tired of it! Parliamentary sessions are a goldmine for researchers across various disciplines, offering valuable insights into what Government and Parliament are focusing on and where their interests lie. The verbatim record of what is said in each Chamber, Hansard, transforms the discussions into a wealth of written data for analysis.