Consultation Submissions

Our responses to consultations, calls for evidence and inquiries.

March 2025

  • Our detailed response to the Bertin Review, in which we drew on the experiences shared by Women with direct experience of the industry, and we continue to push for them to be consulted in any further reviews. We welcome the Review and its recommendations and are reassured to see the Government recognise the urgent need to tackle the harms of pornography. However, we are clear there is no such thing as ‘safe’ pornography and more needs to be done to protect and support women and girls who are harmed by pornography. Read our detailed response here.

June 2025

It’s important that you’re doing this. I have felt excluded by other disabled groups.
— FiLiA Focus Group Participant

Upcoming Consultations

Consultations which may be important to Women.

FiLiA's campaigns and policy team, which includes the FiLiA Women’s Assembly, is working to support women to get their voices heard by local and national policy makers and decision makers. Here we will share consultations, calls for evidence and other opportunities which may be of particular interest to women, and where it will be important for policy makers to hear from women on their experiences and their perspectives:

  • The Education, Children and Young People Committee at The Scottish Parliament is seeking views from individuals with care experience, or who have supported someone in care, on this draft new law; The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland).
    Ends: 15th August 2025. Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill – Scottish Parliament

  • The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Business and Trade are inviting views and evidence on the proposed set of objectives for the parental leave and pay system, which include maternal health, economic growth, best start in life and childcare.
    Ends: 25th August 2025. Parental leave and pay review: call for evidence – GOV.UK

  • The UK Parliament’s Human Rights Committee is calling for evidence to inform their inquiry into the human rights of children in the English social care system. The scope of the inquiry will include the availability of additional support to families with disabled children and the efficacy of early intervention measures. Ends: 25th August 2025. Human Rights of Children in the Social Care System in England – UK Parliament

  • The Health and Social Care Committee is calling for evidence to support its inquiry into food and weight management, including treatments for obesity. The Committee will look at the effectiveness of public health interventions, current prescribing trends and why existing policies have seemingly not succeeded in reducing obesity. Ends: 28th August 2025. Food and Weight Management – UK Parliament

  • The Culture, Media and Sport Parliamentary Committee is calling for evidence to inform its inquiry into children’s TV and video content.
    This will include issues relating to parental control of online content. Ends: 4th September 2025. Children's TV and video content – UK Parliament

  • The Criminal Justice Committee is seeking views on a proposal by Ash Regan MSP for a new law about prostitution in Scotland, to inform the Committee’s scrutiny. The Bill would create a new offence of paying for sexual acts, aimed at those who seek to buy sexual services.
    Ends: 5th September 2025. Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill – Scottish Parliament

  • The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is gathering feedback and comments on a new international guideline for the appropriate inclusion and/or retention of pregnant and/or breast-feeding women in clinical trials of medicines. Ends: 5th September 2025. Consultation on the ICH E21 Guideline on the Inclusion of Pregnant and Breast-feeding Women in Clinical Trials – GOV.UK

  • The UK Parliament’s Human Rights Committee is calling for evidence to inform its inquiry into the development and use of AI technologies. This inquiry will specifically look at how to safeguard human rights and the implications for future legislation. Ends: 5th September 2025. Human Rights and the Regulation of AI – UK Parliament

  • This consultation aims to update the Decent Homes Standard which currently applies to social housing. The new standard will also apply to privately rented housing. The reformed Decent Homes Standard will set out clearly what tenants should expect from their landlords and when it will be implemented. Ends: 10th September 2025. Consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for social and privately rented homes – GOV.UK

  • The Scotland Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee is seeking views on a proposed new law called the Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill. This includes a range of measures aimed at strengthening legal recourse and protection of women experiencing abuse.
    Ends: 15th September 2025. Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill – Scottish Parliament

  • The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are proposing changes to the way government allocates funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant to local authorities in England. Responses from organisations and individuals with an interest are being sought.
    Ends: 16th September 2025. Changing the way government allocates Disabled Facilities Grant funding to local authorities in England – GOV.UK

  • The UK Government’s Online Procedure Rule Committee is seeking views on their draft inclusion framework and pre-action model. This looks to improve digital access to justice in civil, family, and tribunal proceedings. Ends: 19th September 2025. Digital justice system: inclusion framework and pre-action model – GOV.UK

  • The Welsh Parliament’s Health and Care Committee is calling for evidence to support their inquiry into the current provision of, and access to, respite care services for unpaid carers across Wales. The Committee wants to identify how statutory support can be improved and enable unpaid carers to sustain a life beyond caring. Ends: 19th September 2025. Improving access to support for unpaid carers – Welsh Parliament

  • The Work and Pensions Committee of the UK Parliament is calling for evidence to help with their new inquiry into employment support for disabled people. This inquiry will explore the reasons behind the disability employment gap and recommend improvements.
    Ends: 29th September 2025. Employment support for disabled people – UK Parliament

  • Inquiry: Reproductive health conditions: girls and young women. The Women and Equalities Committee is following up its previous work on women’s reproductive health, with a focus on better meeting the needs of girls and young women. It is assessing progress in diagnoses, treatments and pain management of conditions including endometriosis, adenomyosis and heavy menstrual bleeding.
    Ends: 30th September 2025. Reproductive health conditions: girls and young women – UK Parliament

  • An inquiry has been launched by the Justice Committee to examine how advice and legal services are adapting following previous restrictions placed on Legal Aid. The committee will also look into the scope for future innovation in the nature of services, funding, regulation and technology. Ends: 30th September 2025. Access to Justice – UK Parliament

  • The Department of Work and Pensions has opened an inquiry into government proposals for changing the Child Maintenance Service. Evidence is sought to assist in understanding how to improve the Service’s effectiveness and the way it deals with families.
    Ends: 6th October 2025. Child Maintenance Service – UK Parliament

  • Open call for evidence: Identification of victims of modern slavery. This call for evidence is an important step towards longer-term reforms of the modern slavery identification system (National Referral Mechanism/NRM). The UK Home Office is interested in hearing from a wide range of different groups about ways that the UK can have a more effective identification system for victims of modern slavery, where victims are recognised early and accurately so they can be protected and provided with appropriate assistance and support towards their recovery from exploitation. Ends: 8th October 2025. Open call for evidence: Identification of victims of modern slavery – UK Home Office

  • The Welsh Government have launched a consultation on their strategy to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse and are now seeking views from the public. Ends: 8th October 2025. National strategy for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse – GOV.WALES

  • The Scottish Government is seeking views on student support available for further education (FE) and higher education (HE) part-time and distance study; and on the support available for full-time and part-time disabled students undertaking FE and HE study.
    Ends: 9th October 2025. Support for part-time study and disabled students: Survey for students, potential students, parents and carers – Scottish Government

  • The Welsh Government are consulting on their proposal for the future development of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (CSA) which is part of the Childcare Act 2006. Views are sought on how the CSA process and content may be improved. Ends: 17th October 2025. Review of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (CSA) Duty on Local Authorities – GOV.WALES

  • A consultation has been launched by the Welsh Government to gather views on how social services support looked after children, with a view to improving adoption, fostering and kinship services. Ends: 20th October 2025. Improving adoption, fostering and kinship services – GOV.WALES

  • The Welsh Government are consulting on changes to the way in which local authorities carry out their corporate parental responsibilities. This will include strengthening the voice of the child. Ends: 27th October 2025. Corporate parenting: part 6 code of practice on looked after and accommodated children – GOV.WALES

  • NHS England are seeking views on proposed changes to the service specification for specialist gender incongruence services for children and young people. This revised version follows publication of an interim service specification in June 2023, which was developed in response to the interim advice set out in the Cass Review. Ends: 2nd November 2025. NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Service Specification

  • The Public Accounts Committee are calling for evidence to help with their inquiry into home to school transport. This follows on from their report published earlier this year that found that the lack of state school capacity for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is causing longer travel distances to suitable schools. Closing date to be confirmed. Home-to-school transport – UK Parliament

It is indispensable that there is a feminist perspective during these changes. Women struggle with their own specific set of issues around disability and our rights need to be in the centre of those considerations.
— FiLiA Focus Group Attendee