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).
Submit your views
When a committee launches an inquiry, or starts looking at a bill, they usually ask the public to submit their views. This is your chance to tell the committee what you think about the issue they're looking at.
Anyone can submit their views to the committee. 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?
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.