Learn about committees
Contents
How to get involved
You or your organisation can get involved in a committee's work by:
- giving your views on a bill (a proposed new law)
- contributing to an inquiry
- submitting a petition
All committees can carry out inquiries into any subject in their remits (area of responsibility).
Call for views
When a committee launches an inquiry, or starts looking at a bill, they ask the public to submit their views. This is called a "call for views". It's important to note that the committee are not running an opinion poll. The committee are looking for informed views.
A call for views:
- aims to help the committee understand the reasons people have for either supporting or opposing an issue
- will not establish whether more people support or oppose an issue
The committee will base any assessment of public opinion on published data from opinion polls. As responses to a call for views are self-selecting, they cannot be assumed to be representative of public opinion and will not be treated as such.
Anyone can submit their views to the committee. The committee want to hear from organisations, and also individuals who have informed views on the issue.
You can find out what the committee is asking and when their deadline is on the committee's webpage.
How to give your views to a committee as a BSL video
What happens after you submit your views?
The Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) will prepare a summary and analysis of responses to the call for views.
If we receive a very high volume of submissions, this may need to be prepared on the basis of a sample of submissions.
Your views will usually be published on the Scottish Parliament’s website.
What you tell a committee may also be quoted in its reports or in its meetings. These meetings are held in public and broadcast online on the Scottish Parliament TV website.
More information about what happens to what you send to a committee and how it uses your information is on our privacy notices page.
Witnesses
Committees also speak to members of the public, organisations, or experts in person. These people are called "witnesses". Committee members decide which witnesses they would like to ask questions to.
Find out more about what happens when you're a witness at a committee.