Complaints procedure

Follow the guidance below to send your complaint to the right team.

Before making a complaint, check whether it relates to Defra, or one of its agencies. Each agency has its own complaints procedure, which you can find using these links:

What we need to know

To deal with and understand your complaint effectively, we need to know:

  • what happened and when
  • how it affected you
  • what you would like us to do to put things right
  • if you need any adjustments or support

Include as much detail as you can, such as dates, times, who you spoke to, what was said, and any evidence that supports your complaint.

We may not respond to your complaint if it:

  • contains offensive language
  • repeats a question we have already answered
  • is illegible
  • promotes or sells a product
  • is for information only
  • does not include enough detail

Complaints about Defra policy

Use this section if you want to complain about how a Defra policy affects you, or how the policy was developed or implemented.

What you cannot complain about

Once a policy has been implemented, we cannot change it through the complaints procedure.

We also cannot consider complaints about a policy if it is already subject to:

  • a court decision
  • an ongoing tribunal
  • a separate appeal process

This means that if your issue is already being dealt with formally elsewhere, the complaints procedure cannot run in parallel.

What you can complain about

We can consider a complaint about a policy if you feel that:

  • you have been unfairly treated, compared to others, or do not have equal access to a product or service.
  • we did not follow the correct procedures for developing or implementing the policy

How we develop policies

Before we introduce a new policy, we take it through several stages of development including:

  • assessing economic, equality and environmental impacts
  • consulting with affected or interested groups
  • internal governance checks
  • ministerial approval

How to give feedback or make a complaint

To give feedback on a policy or submit a complaint, contact the relevant department. You can also raise issues with your MP.

If we accept your complaint, we will respond within 20 working days.

Standards of service

Sometimes you may need to complain about the way Defra, or an individual, has provided a service. These complaints are called service standards complaints. 

To make a service standard complaint, contact us as soon as possible by email or in writing. We use a two-stage process to handle these complaints quickly, effectively and fairly.

This process does not cover staff complaints or complaints about the department’s policies.

Stage 1

Send your complaint via email or post to the Defra Service Standards Adjudicator. They are responsible for investigating complaints about standards of service.

If we accept your complaint, we will respond within 20 working days.

Email: service-standards.adjudicator@defra.gov.uk

Service Standards Adjudicator
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

If you are not happy with the response at Stage 1, you can ask us to escalate your complaint to Stage 2.

Stage 2

If the Service Standards Adjudicator’s response does not resolve your complaint, you have 28 days to ask us to escalate to Stage 2. To do this, reply to the Adjudicator in writing and explain why you want your complaint to be escalated. Your complaint will then be reviewed by a senior manager.

The senior manager will aim to respond to you in writing within 20 working days.

If you are not satisfied with the senior manager’s decision, you can ask any MP to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman:

PHSO
Citygate
Mosley Street
Manchester
M2 3HQ

Please note: While we always aim to answer your complaint fully, we cannot respond to repeated requests for the same information.

Access to information

If your complaint relates to a request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, or to our publication scheme, write to the Information Rights Team (IRT). They will arrange for your complaint to be investigated.

Email: informationrequests@defra.gov.uk

Information Rights Team (IRT)
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Seacole Building
4th Floor
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

We must receive your complaint within 40 working days of the date you believe we failed to comply with the regulations.

If your request was handled by a Defra executive agency, send your complaint to that agency rather than Defra.

If your complaint relates to how Defra has handled your personal data, including your rights under data protection law, contact the core Defra Data Protection Team.

Email: data.protection@defra.gov.uk

We aim to respond to all access-to-information complaints within 20 working days. If we cannot meet this deadline, we will let you why and when you can expect to receive a reply.

If you are still dissatisfied after receiving your response, you can apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Please note that the Information Commissioner will usually expect you to have used Defra’s complaints procedure first.

Office for the Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Re-use of information

If your complaint relates to a request to re-use information under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, you can contact Defra’s Library and Information Services Team. They will arrange for your complaint to be investigated and will let you know the outcome.

Email: libraryenquiries@defra.gov.uk

If you are still dissatisfied after receiving the outcome, you can refer your case to the Office of Public Sector Information which manages and regulates government information.

Email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk

Phone: General enquiries - 020 8876 3444 (National Archives)

Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI)
PO Box 3415
Norwich
NR7 7JS

Procurement and contractual matters

If your complaint relates to a request to any procurement or contractual matter, you can write to the Head of Defra Group Commercial, who will arrange for your complaint to be investigated and will let you know the outcome. Their address is:

Email: network.procurement@defra.gov.uk

Head of Defra Group Commercial
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Area 4C,
Nobel House,
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR

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