Written evidence submission form

Parliamentary committees offer some of the best ways to mobilise longitudinal research in policy. Our form below will guide you in producing written evidence for committees.

First, enter your details and research findings below. You can then download a fully formatted document ready to be sent to the committee.

Please note: we do not collect or share any personal data or information that is entered on this form.

What is the name of the person(s) or organisation submitting the evidence?

Date of submission

Name of Committee and Inquiry

Provide background information on your group and your expertise – the aim of this is to position yourself as a relevant and reliable source of information.

Explain why you/your organisation feels it can provide value to the inquiry by submitting evidence. This should outline where you draw your expertise from and how this links to the inquiry’s terms of reference.

Executive summary: identify the key points from each section of your submission and include the most important recommendations (max. 7-9 bullet points).

A good summary sentence could look like:

- [Diagnosis]: The UK’s Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines adopt a life course approach to health, recommending different levels and types of physical activity for general health benefits across key life stages. Active travel is one way to achieve this.
- [Reason for your submission]: Longitudinal population studies provide unique sources of evidence on patterns of active travel and how they change over the life course as well as how active travel related to other aspects of people’s lives, such as health and wellbeing.
- [Scrutiny questions]: Our response focuses on the following questions in the call for evidence:
    - [list items]
    - [item]
    - [item]
- [Summary of evidence (there will likely be more than bullet point here)]: Research based on longitudinal population study data finds that journeys of walking and cycling maintain and improve physical and mental health across the life course.
- [Policy recommendations]: Considering how to facilitate active travel when planning our local environments and infrastructure can have a transformative effect on individuals, communities, and the wider population.

Section 1

Section heading:

Section content:

Section recommendations:

Offer actionable ideas for future policies based on the findings you give above. If you are not a policy expert, it is helpful to see what has been suggested in debates on the topic already to inform your recommendations. Often research papers will also offer their own policy implications which you can draw on.

Position your recommendation with the evidence you have already given: For example: Given the reduction of reliance on a spouse for support, having more good quality social resources is important in mitigating mental health difficulties.

Offer your recommendation: For example: Effective interventions should not only focus on expanding men’s social networks, but on improving the quality of existing relationships.

Provide relevant analyses of policy interventions if you have them: For example: The interventions that are most effective at reducing social isolation and loneliness among older people are educational and social activity group interventions, whereas the effectiveness of home visiting and befriending schemes is less clear.

Repeat for all recommendations.

Acknowledgements:

References (please leave blank if you plan to insert references in the Word document after you have created your submission). Check out CLOSER’s Screen-time inquiry submission for an example of how to do this.