Complaints procedure

How to make a complaint about the Forestry Commission's service.

What is a complaint?

A complaint is a way of telling us you’re not satisfied with an activity we’re undertaking, or a service that we’re providing. 

It could be connected to:

  • our role in the management of private woodland, particularly control of tree felling, and encouraging sustainable woodland management
  • requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environment Information Regulations
  • our role in regulating sustainable forestry standards (UK Forestry Standard (UKFC))

If your complaint is about:

Appeals

If you want to appeal against a grant decision, refusal of a felling licence, a restocking notice or an enforcement notice, go to our appeals page.

How to make a complaint

You can complain verbally or in writing and should include:

  • the nature of your complaint
  • what stage of complaint you’re making
  • evidence to support your complaint
  • any supporting documentation

We may ask you for more information to help us respond.

There are 3 stages of complaints:

  • Level 1: your first time contacting us with your complaint
  • Level 2: you’re not happy with our response to your level 1 complaint
  • Level 3: you’re not happy with our response to your level 2 complaint

Level 1

You can either phone 0300 067 4321, post or email your complaint to the national Compliance Team.

Compliance Team
620 Bristol Business Park
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1EJ
Email: fs.compliance@forestrycommission.gov.uk

The team will pass your complaint on to the relevant team or person.

You’ll receive an acknowledgement, confirming who will be managing the complaint, within 5 working days. We aim to respond within 20 working days.

Level 2

If you received a response from your level 1 complaint and are not satisfied, you can make a level 2 complaint by email or post to the relevant team.

If your level 2 complaint concerns the disclosure or non-disclosure of information under the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations, you should address your complaint to the Chief Executive Officer. 

Commissioners Office
620 Bristol Business Park
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1EJ
Email: commissioners@forestrycommission.gov.uk

If you received a response from anyone else, you should send your level 2 complaint to the National Compliance team.

Compliance Team
620 Bristol Business Park
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1EJ
Email: fs.compliance@forestrycommission.gov.uk

The team will pass your complaint on to the relevant team or person.

You’ll receive an acknowledgement, confirming who will be managing the complaint, within 5 working days. We aim to respond within 20 working days.

Level 3

If our response to your level 2 complaint did not address your concerns, you can move to level 3. This is the final stage of our complaints procedure.

All level 3 complaints should be sent by email or post to the Chief Executive Officer.

Commissioners Office
620 Bristol Business Park
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1EJ
Email: commissioners@forestrycommission.gov.uk

You must submit your level 3 complaint within 3 months of having received the final response from your level 2 complaint.

The Chief Executive Officer may delegate the response to the Director of Forest Services, the Chief Executive of Forestry England or another member of the Forestry Commission Executive Board.

Our service standard

We aim to:

  • treat all complaints seriously and investigate your complaint thoroughly and fairly
  • put things right as quickly as possible if we are at fault – if not, we’ll give you a full explanation
  • learn from complaints and take action to improve our services

We aim to acknowledge all written complaints within 5 working days and let you know who is handling the matter and how to contact them.

We aim to respond in full within 20 working days of receiving written complaints by letter or email.

If it’s not possible to give you a full reply within this time (for example, if your complaint requires more detailed investigation), we will tell you what is being done and when you can expect a full response.

If you remain unhappy with our actions and you’ve exhausted our internal complaints process you can ask your Member of Parliament (MP) to request that the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (the Ombudsman) investigates your complaint, or the way it has been handled.

For more information about the role of the Ombudsman and how to make a complaint go to the Ombudsman website.

Complaints about the Plant Health Service

England

Level 1: functional leads

If you’d like to complain about the Plant Health Service, please email in the first instance at plant.health@forestrycommission.gov.uk, or telephone 0300 067 4321, as we might be able to resolve an issue immediately.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days, and aim to resolve complaints within 20 working days of receipt. 

Level 2: head of service

If you’re not satisfied with the level 1 response to your complaint, you should contact:

Head of Plant Health Forestry
Forestry Commission
620 Bristol Business Park
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1EJ
Email: plant.health@forestrycommission.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 067 4321

Level 3: forestry commissioner

We will do everything we can to resolve your complaint to your full satisfaction. However, if you are not satisfied with the level 2 response from the head of Plant Health Forestry you can move to the final stage of our complaints procedure.

All level 3 complaints should be sent to:

Forestry Commissioner Chief Executive
Forestry Commission
620 Bristol Business Park
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1EJ
Email: commissioners@forestrycommission.gov.uk
Telephone: 0117 906 6000

They will discuss your complaint with the director of Forest Services before responding.

Level 4: referral to the Ombudsman England

We aim to resolve all complaints within the organisation. However, should you remain dissatisfied after using our internal complaints process you can refer the matter to the appropriate Ombudsman. You can do this either indirectly through your local Member of Parliament (MP) in England, or directly to the relevant Ombudsman:

Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0345 015 403

Scotland

Level 1: functional leads

If you have a complaint about our Plant Health Service delivered by the Forestry Commission on behalf of ministers in Scotland, please email in the first instance at plant.health@forestrycommission.gov.uk, or telephone 0300 067 4321, as we might be able to resolve an issue immediately.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days, and aim to resolve complaints within 20 working days of receipt. 

Level 2: head of service

If you’re not satisfied with the level 1 response to your complaint you should contact Scottish Forestry, who act on behalf of Scottish ministers for forestry matters in Scotland. They will then consider it under their complaints handling procedure and respond to you.

Send your complaint to:

Head of Scottish Forestry Executive Office
Scottish Forestry
Spur E1, Saughton House,
Edinburgh,
EH11 3XD
Email: scottish.forestry@forestry.gov.scot
Telephone 0131 370 5250
Website: Scottish Forestry

Level 3: referral to the Ombudsman Scotland

We will do everything we can to resolve your complaint to your full satisfaction. However, if you’re not satisfied with the response from Scottish Forestry and your business is in Scotland, you can refer your complaint to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO) via their website How to complain about a public service SPSO.

Usually the SPSO will only consider complaints that have completed the relevant organisation’s complaints handling procedure.

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
Bridgeside House
99 McDonald Road
Edinburgh
EH7 4NS
Website: SPSO
Telephone 0800 377 7330

Wales

Level 1: functional leads

If you have a complaint about our Plant Health Service, which we deliver on behalf of Welsh ministers, please email in the first instance at plant.health@forestrycommission.gov.uk, or telephone 0300 067 4321, as we might be able to resolve an issue immediately.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days, and aim to resolve complaints within 20 working days of receipt. 

Level 2: head of service

If you’re not satisfied with the level 1 response to your complaint you should contact Landscapes, Nature and Forestry Division Welsh government. They will  consider it under their complaints handling procedure and respond to you.

Deputy Director, Landscapes, Nature and Forestry Division
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ
Email: plant.health@gov.wales
Telephone: 0300 060 4400
Website: GOV.Wales forestry
Website: GOV.Wales plant health

Level 3: referral to the Ombudsman Wales

We will do everything we can to resolve your complaint to your full satisfaction.  However, if you’re not satisfied with the level 2 response from the deputy director, Landscapes, Nature and Forestry and your business is in Wales, you can refer your complaint to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.

Usually the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales will only consider complaints that have completed the relevant organisation’s complaints handling procedure.

Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
1 Ffordd yr.Hen Gae
Pencoed
CF3 5LJ
Email:  ask@ombudsman.wales
Telephone: 0300 790 0203
Website: Complaints: Public Services Ombudsman Wales

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