Find out how you can give evidence to a Select Committee of the House of Commons or the House of Lords.
Contents
Giving written evidence to a select committee
Why do you want my evidence?
Select committees choose topics to investigate and then make recommendations for improvements. We need evidence to help us understand what’s happening now and what changes might be needed.
We want to hear from a wide range of people who know about the topic that we’re looking into. The more ideas we hear, the better our work will be.
You might know about the topic because of the work that you do. You might have researched or studied it. Or you might understand something because you’ve got personal experience of it, like using health services or claiming benefits. All these different kinds of expertise are really valuable to us.
Click that button to read more information. If you want to send us evidence, this is where to start.
Dos and dont's for writing your evidence
Do:
explain who you are and why you are sending us evidence
keep what you write relevant to the subject of the inquiry
put your evidence in a Word, ODT or RTF document
make sure the file is no more than 25MB in size
Don't:
write more than 3,000 words
send us material that has already been published
include logos
You should always be honest in the evidence you send to a committee. Deliberately misleading a committee is a serious matter and can amount to what is called a contempt of the House of Commons. If you mislead a committee, you could be investigated by the Committee of Privileges.
Don’t worry if you make a mistake in your evidence. If you realise you’ve made a mistake, tell us as soon as you can.
If our requirements are difficult for you
We want everyone’s voice to be heard in Parliament.
Please contact us if you:
find it difficult to send us your evidence online
want to send us your evidence in a different format (for example, an audio file)
want to send us your evidence after the deadline has passed
need any other changes so that you can send us your evidence.
You can find out how to contact each committee on its website.
If you're having trouble, you can contact the House of Commons Enquiry Service. You can:
Your evidence will probably be published on the internet. It stays public forever. That means that other people will be able to find and read what you send us.
Your name (or your organisation’s name) will be published with your evidence.
We can’t remove your evidence after it’s been published, so please think carefully about what you’re including before you send it to us. If you’d like advice, please contact us before you send your evidence.
The Committee doesn’t have to publish what you send us. We’ll e-mail you to let you know what’s happening to your evidence.
We’ll read your evidence and we’ll use it to help the Committee’s inquiry. For example, the Committee might use your name and your evidence in a report.
If you want to publish your evidence yourself, you must ask us first. If we agree that you can publish your evidence, you are legally responsible for what it says.
What if I don't want my name or my evidence to be published?
We usually publish evidence, because it’s important that the public can see the information the Committee has considered in its inquiry and who wrote it. But if there is an important reason why your evidence should be anonymous or confidential, tell us.
You may want your evidence to be anonymous—meaning we’ll publish your evidence, but not your name or details that could identify you.
You may want your evidence to be confidential—meaning we’ll read your evidence but we won’t publish it.
If you want either of these things, tick the box on the website to say so when you are sending it to us. Please explain at the start of your evidence why you are asking for this.
We can’t guarantee that this will happen, because the Committee has the power to decide whether evidence is kept anonymous or confidential.
Sometimes the call for evidence will say whether or not the Committee will accept anonymous or confidential evidence for that inquiry. This is more likely when the subject is personal or sensitive.
You can contact us before you send your evidence if you have any questions about this.
Why might you not consider my evidence?
We don’t consider evidence that isn’t relevant to the Committee’s inquiry. Read the call for evidence carefully before sending your evidence. You don’t have to answer all of the questions or cover all of the issues, but do stay on topic.
We can’t help you with an individual problem or a specific complaint. If you’re not sure who can help with your problem, you can find out here.
It’s very unlikely we will publish evidence that talks about court cases that are in progress (live court cases). If you do want to talk about a live court case, including an appeal, in your evidence, please contact us for advice.
It’s very unlikely we will publish evidence that contains statements that could be defamatory (that is, saying something untrue that could harm someone’s reputation).
How parliamentary privilege applies to your evidence
Parliamentary privilege refers to the rights and powers that belong to Parliament and that enable it to fulfil its role. In particular, it gives legal protection for freedom of speech in Parliament, including for people who give evidence in writing or in person to select committees. Unless your evidence is rejected, it will be protected by parliamentary privilege. If it is rejected, it will not be published by the Committee.
If you publish your evidence before the Committee has published it, parliamentary privilege won’t apply and you may be vulnerable to legal action.
If you are concerned for any reason about the possible consequences for you of sending us evidence, please contact us before you send your evidence.
Everyone should feel free to send their evidence to a committee if they want to. If anyone threatens you because of evidence you’ve sent us, please contact us.
Data protection
We’ll handle the personal data you give us in line with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. You can find out more about how your data will be used in our Privacy Notice.
Committees receive a lot of written evidence, and we read it all. But there are some things you can do to make your evidence even more useful to the Committee and its inquiry.
These tips are especially for anyone who is writing evidence on behalf of an organisation or in another professional role.
Keep your evidence short and to the point.
Write in plain English and explain any technical terms.
Use section headings and numbered paragraphs.
We can't accept evidence that has already been published, or that is intended to be published elsewhere, but you can quote from or refer to published material.
Include factual information you think the Committee will find useful, particularly if it comes from you or your organisation's own knowledge, work or research.
Set out the actions you would like Government or others to take, and explain why these actions would improve things.
Include your thoughts about the most important questions that the Committee should ask the Government.
Think about what you or your organisation can bring to the debate that others might not. What is your unique perspective or expertise?
Send us your evidence as early as you can—this gives the Committee more time to take it into account.
Re-read all the information on this page to make sure your evidence meets our requirements and doesn't include any material that might cause us to reject it.
When a House of Lords Select Committee conducts an inquiry it will often invite written evidence from interested parties. Those wishing to make a submission to a committee should do so through the relevant inquiry page on the committee's website before the deadline detailed.
If you have difficulty making a submission online, wish to submit evidence in an alternative format such as audio file, or would like to make a submission after the formal deadline for evidence, please contact the committee staff on the committee's website.
Guidelines
To be successfully submitted via the online written submission form, documents need to:
Be less than 25 MB in size
Be in Microsoft Word or another editable format (e.g. rtf, txt ooxml or odt format, but not PDF or Excel)
Contain as few logos or embedded pictures as possible
Contain no macros
Comprise a single file. If there are any annexes or appendices, these should be included in the same file.
Submissions should also:
Be dated
State clearly who the submission is from, i.e. whether you are submitting it in a personal capacity (individually or along with co-authors) or on behalf of an organisation
Be concise: a submission longer than six printed pages should include a one-page summary
Have numbered paragraphs
10 top tips on providing written evidence to Lords Select Committees
Keep your submission short and to the point.
Number the paragraphs and include clear headlines and sections.
Think carefully about what you can bring to the discussion that others may not.
Introduce yourself at the start, and tell us if these are your views, or those of an organisation.
Write in plain English, using as little technical jargon as possible, but define your key terms if necessary.
Highlight key questions, conclusions and recommendations throughout the submission.
Avoid saying anything defamatory – we may not be able to accept all or some of your evidence if you do.
Address the questions in the Call for Evidence. You do not need to answer all of them but make it clear which ones you are!
You can quote from published material, such as research papers. If you do this, cite them in footnotes.
Do not submit something which has already been published elsewhere or publish your submission anywhere until the Committee has accepted it as evidence.
Notes on making a submission
Those making a submission to a Committee inquiry should note the following:
Personal contact details supplied to the Committee will be removed from submissions before publication but will be retained by the Committee staff fro specific purposes relating to the Committee's work, such as seeking additional information.
Evidence which is accepted by the Committee may be published online at any stage; when it is so published it becomes subject to parliamentary copyright and is protected by parliamentary privilege. Submissions which have been previously published will not be accepted as evidence. Once you have received acknowledgement that the evidence has been accepted you will receive a further email, and at this point you may publicise or publish your evidence yourself. In doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee, and you should be aware that your publication or re-publication of your evidence may not be protected by parliamentary privilege.
Persons who submit written evidence, and others, may be invited to give oral evidence. Oral evidence is usually given in public at Westminster and broadcast; transcripts are also taken and published online. Persons invited to give oral evidence will be notified separately of the procedure to be followed and the topics likely to be discussed.
Substantive communications to the Committee about the inquiry should be addressed to the Clerk of the Committee, whether or not they are intended to constitute formal evidence to the Committee.
Committees normally publish written evidence on the Internet (where it will be accessible to search engines). If you do not wish your submission to be published, you must clearly explain your reasons for not wishing its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish. The final decision on whether or not to publish evidence rests with the Committee.
If you wish to include private or confidential information in your submission to the Committee, please contact the Clerk of the Committee to discuss this before making your submission.
Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission, but may be referred to within a submission, in which case it should be clearly referenced, preferably with a hyperlink.
Data protection
The personal information you supply will be processed in accordance with the House of Commons Data Protection Policy and the House of Commons and House of Lords privacy notices for the purposes of attributing the evidence you submit and contacting you as necessary in connection with it.