What is a Select Committee?

House of Commons Select Committees are made up of MPs or peers from any political party.

They are not part of government but hold government to account by checking and reporting on the work of government departments through inquiries in parliament. The results of these inquiries are public and the government must always respond.

The House of Lords also has Select Committees. Joint Committees contain MPs and Lords.

Why are they worth engaging with?

You will be supporting parliamentarians in their work of scrutinising the Government, which can lead to better, research-informed public policy for the benefit of society. It can raise the profile of you and your research, and each accepted piece of evidence is published on the parliament website and is available indefinitely. Your evidence could be quoted in a report to government and government could make improvements to policy based on your recommendations or research – that can lead to you having real world impact.

How to find if there is an inquiry relevant to your area of expertise

Inquiries are launched regularly and you can find current inquiries that are open for responses here: Find an inquiry - Committees - UK Parliament.

There is a weekly update from parliament’s knowledge exchange unit and Lancaster University policy manager also sends out a regular update of new opportunities, including from inquiries. You can subscribe by emailing policy@lancaster.ac.uk

How to respond to an inquiry

If there is an inquiry relevant to your research, then you may want to respond by sending written evidence. There is usually a set format to the process starting with an online form. You will find these details and further guidance on the specific inquiry page. Unless you are submitting a response on behalf of the VC’s office or Board, we recommend responding as an individual or group - but please always mention Lancaster University in your submission or in the section about Employer.

Written evidence

You can find more in this video training session. Source: Parliament Knowledge Exchange Unit

Read the call for evidence and address the terms of reference or questions they would like to address.

• Present your evidence in a clear and concise manner. Committees usually ask for less than 3,000 words and a Word doc, not a PDF.
• Use plain language, avoid jargon and overly technical terms and explain all acronyms.
• Save any hyperlinks for the footnotes – and don’t include too many.
• Don’t add logos.

• Use section headings and numbered paragraphs quoting the question or issue from the terms of reference that you are addressing.
• Your contribution must be original. That means you can’t just send a research paper or journal article as it is; it has to be created specifically for the committee and not already published elsewhere. You can use the same work or refer to existing and published material but it has to be tailored to address the committee terms of reference.
• You don’t have to answer each question.
• Set out the actions you would like Government or others to take and explain why these actions would improve things. Committees are looking for evidence and advice to inform their inquiry and value submissions that provide clear evidence, arguments and conclusions.
• Think about what you can bring to the debate that others might not. What is your unique perspective or expertise?
• Take note of the closing date and send your evidence as early as you can—this gives the Committee more time to take it into account and increases the chance of you being asked to present oral evidence.
• If you are keen to present your evidence in person, offer to do so in your email with the submission.

Template for written evidence

No logos

Written evidence submitted by name or group name, Lancaster University on date

Name of Committee or Consultation

Inquiry name

Briefly introduce yourself/your group, your credentials and how you fit within Lancaster University, and describe why you are responding to this call for evidence. Number the paragraphs.

1. Executive Summary. Write it on the basis that this might be the only part of your submission that is read. Include the main research points and the key recommendations in no more than a page, maximum! Ideally half a page. Make it quotable – this could make it into the parliamentary report so make it easy to quote your main findings and recommendations in a couple of sentences.
2. Key Recommendations or Conclusions– numbered paragraphs. Including clearly stated, concise, actionable recommendations that are directly relevant to the submission topic is one of the most effective ways of getting your evidence noticed. However, you don’t have to include recommendations.
3. The first question from the Terms of Reference that you are addressing. You don’t have to answer all questions but try and make your submission relate to the questions they have posed.
4. Your main point and the evidence this is based on.
5. Your recommendation or conclusion. It is not essential to include recommendations but the committees welcome them. They want to hear about possible solutions as well as challenges.
6. The next question or issue you are addressing…etc.

Examples

These are examples of submissions from Lancaster University colleagues:

An individual response: committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/127333/pdf/

A joint response: committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/125511/pdf/

The Work Foundation: committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/148898/html/

These are examples from other institutions:

Hansard Society: committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/141350/pdf/

UCL: committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/129057/pdf/

Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit: committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/42410/pdf/

Oral Evidence

You may be invited to an inquiry hearing to present evidence in person – this is brilliant! It is a rare opportunity to present your ideas, research and recommendations to the committee and answer their questions as well as appearing on Parliament TV. The session may also receive media attention. All appearances are recorded and saved on parliament’s website and there is also a published transcript of your evidence. Oral evidence is more likely to be quoted in committee reports to government.

You may be asked before you have submitted written evidence and sometimes it is as a result of your written evidence, which is why it is good to respond to inquiries early and state that you are happy to present your evidence in person.

You will be sent all the information about your appearance including a list of questions they are planning on asking you and the other people appearing with you. Similar tips and guidance apply as written evidence – don’t use jargon or acronyms, evidence must be specifically prepared for that inquiry, don’t be too…academic! You can find more guidance here : Guidance for giving written or oral evidence to a House of Commons select committee and if you email policy@lancaster.ac.uk we can put you in touch with colleagues that have given evidence in this way.

Examples

Rebecca Willis appearing at the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee inquiry in September 2025:

https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/a01d5497-0e43-4ac2-b0f5-b1831d8795d7?in=16:35:46

Johnathan Vincent appearing at the Autism Act 2009 inquiry in April 2025: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/6b45a27b-3f76-433d-ae5d-1a29937b958a?in=16:04:36

Nancy Preston appearing at the evidence session for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in January 2025

https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/b04d914b-2ece-4f89-9836-3fc695d48f10?in=14:01:10

Additional resources

You can find recorded webinars and training sessions on the parliament’s website here:

Online training for researchers - UK Parliament

Lancaster University also runs policy training for researchers with the Industry and Parliament Trust and you can enquire about the next available session by emailing policy@lancaster.ac.uk.