Responding to the questions
The Call for Evidence covers a variety of themes and includes a large number of questions. We would like everyone to answer the first three general questions before moving on to answer questions in some or all of the four sections. You are invited to respond to as many of the sections and to answer as many questions as you wish. However, there may be some sections and/or questions which are less relevant to you or your organisation and you may wish to ignore these.
We do not expect you to respond to all of the sections or all of the questions unless you wish to do so. Please select those that are most relevant to you.
The Commission is keen to learn from your own or your organisation’s experience and there are no right or wrong answers. The questions offer free text answers, but please restrict your answers to the boxes for each question. You might like to use bullet points or numbered lists to record key information. There is an opportunity at the end to provide any additional information that has not been covered in your answers.
When answering the questions, please do NOT refer to or provide any information (such as names, addresses, locations) that may personally identify any individual. When a question asks you to respond from your personal or professional experience, please do not include any details that could personally identify anyone in your family or any individual that you or your organisation knows.
Please note that reference to ‘organisation’ in the questions always includes local and national organisations, groups of all kinds, voluntary and statutory agencies, charities, mutual aid institutions, churches/places of worship, and church/faith-based institutions.
Examples of good practice
We would like you to highlight examples of programmes and initiatives which provide support which you know makes a difference in the lives of individuals and families. These may be local initiatives offered by a church/faith group or community-based organisation, or those offered by a national organisation. Please provide information about and include links to specific programmes, reports and materials.
When giving examples please do NOT provide any information that could personally identify an individual or beneficiary. If you choose to provide case illustrations in respect of initiatives please ensure that they are anonymised and do not contain personal details that could identify the individuals/families concerned.
Background information
At the end of the questionnaire, we ask you to provide some background information about yourself or about the organisation you are representing. This information will never be shared with anyone outside the Commission and will remain confidential to the Commission.
If you are responding to the Call for Evidence in a personal capacity we ask for some general information about your age, ethnic background, religious affiliation if any, and gender. This information will be used to enable us to contextualise the responses we receive. You are not required to provide this information and there is an option to tick if you prefer not to answer any of these questions. The information you give will be confidential to the Commission and will never be shared.
If you are responding to the Call for Evidence on behalf of an organisation, we ask you to provide some information about the organisation. We will not share this information with anyone else or any organisation outside the Commission.