Complaints procedure

How to make a complaint about the Environment Agency’s service, or appeal against a regulatory decision.


Standards of service

The Environment Agency has published their customer service commitment. This shows what you can expect from them.

Complaints about service

If you’re unhappy with the service the Environment Agency has provided, please contact them by email, post or telephone.

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

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Escalate a complaint

If you’re not happy with the Environment Agency’s response to your complaint, let them know. They will escalate it to a manager who will review your complaint and write to you again. If you’re not satisfied with the manager’s response, you can contact the relevant ombudsman.

Contact the ombudsman

The ombudsman is independent of the Environment Agency. They will only consider complaints after the Environment Agency has had the chance to resolve them.

For complains about flood defence and land drainage issues, contact the Local Government Ombudsman.

Telephone: 0300 061 0614

For complaints about all other aspects of work, you can complain through your local MP to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Telephone: 0345 015 4033

Contact the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP)

The OEP is independent of the Environment Agency. It can look at complaints relating to a government body’s failure to implement or comply with environmental law.

Email: enquiries@theoep.org.uk

Telephone: 03300 416 581

Appeal a regulatory decision

If you disagree with a regulatory decision the Environment Agency has made, you can appeal and ask them to review it. You should make your appeal to the Environment Agency in writing within 14 days of being told about their decision.

Making an appeal to the Environment Agency in this way does not affect:

  • any statutory right of appeal you may have
  • the time limits for making a statutory appeal
  • your right to consider asking the courts to review their decision or to make a complaint to the ombudsman

If you want to make an appeal, contact the Environment Agency through enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk.

If the Environment Agency receives a request for review from an interested party, rather than a regulated customer, they will treat this as a complaint.

Victims’ Right to Review

In cases where the Environment Agency is the regulator, and they have decided not to prosecute an offender for a criminal offence, an identified victim can sometimes ask them to review that decision. This is only in certain circumstances. To find out what these circumstances are, you can email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk.

Normally they know the identity of victims and will ask them if they want a decision not to prosecute to be reviewed. A victim must tell them within 5 working days if they do want that decision reviewed.

Complaints about mismanagement, charges or licensing

You can contact the Information Commissioner if you’re unhappy with the way the Environment Agency has:

  • managed your request for information
  • charged for or licensed your re-use of information

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

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