Public consultations offer a unique opportunity for longitudinal research to be used to shape policy. They enable researchers to inform government, regulators, ombudsmen, and other official bodies of relevant research findings and recommendations for policy and practice. For government departments, consultations tend to happen when legislation is being developed, such as at the Green Paper stage.
A consultation is a chance for individuals and organisations to submit evidence on a specific policy topic. Most calls for evidence are hosted by government departments, although other public bodies also open their own. Consultations can vary in the exact ways they seek evidence; for example, some ask for answers to specific questions through online forms, while others allow free-text submissions.
Find out which consultations are open for responses with our Consultation Tracker. This is a regularly updated list of consultations that could benefit from research using longitudinal population study data.
Relevant resources
This section is part of the CLOSER Policy Hub. Go back to the Policy Hub homepage.