Complaints procedure
Source: gov.uk (2025-07-30)

How to make a complaint about Natural England’s services.

We openly welcome complaints and recognise they are a valuable source of feedback to improve our services. If you feel something is not right, we want to hear from you.

A complaint is defined as any expression of dissatisfaction about the service provided which is not resolved by operational staff as normal business.

You can contact us about any aspect of our services, including:
- mistakes we have made
- certain decisions we have made
- unreasonable delays
- how you’ve been treated
If we cannot process your feedback as a complaint, we will pass it on to the appropriate team for response.

We will not investigate complaints:
- about government policy or law
- that have already been investigated or are currently being investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman or the Office for Environmental Protection
- relating to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Environmental Information Regulations 2004
If you have a complaint regarding an FOI request submitted to Natural England, email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) or call xx-xxxx-xxxx.

If your complaint is about a Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship payment, contact the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/rural-payments-agency/about/complaints-procedure).

If your complaint relates to an access to information request, you should contact the individual named in the original response you received or email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

Make a complaint

Use the online service to make a complaint. You’ll have the opportunity to:
- attach any relevant photographs
- provide any relevant reference numbers
- give details of conversations you’ve had before with Natural England
If you want to provide any of this information, have it ready before you start.

Start now (https://submit-form-to-defra.service.gov.uk/give-feedback-make-a-complaint-or-ask-natural-england-a-question)

Get help or complain anonymously

For help using this service online, or to make a complaint anonymously, call: xx-xxxx-xxxx. Find out about call charges (https://www.gov.uk/call-charges).

If you prefer, you can send your complaint to us by email at xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

What happens next

We’ll investigate your complaint. If we’re at fault, we’ll try to put things right. If not, we’ll give you a full explanation. We’ll deal with your complaint as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

Natural England’s complaints process has 2 tiers.

Tier 1

We aim to acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days of receiving it. This response will come by email or post, depending on your preference.

We’ll then carry out a full investigation. We aim to send you a full response within 20 working days.

Tier 2

If you’re unhappy with the response you received at tier 1, you can request escalation to tier 2 within 30 working days of our response. At tier 2, your complaint will be escalated to a more senior member of staff for review. It will also be managed by a different person in the Natural England complaints team.

We aim to send you a full response within 25 working days.

If you’re not satisfied

If you’ve been through our complaints process and you’re still not satisfied with the outcome after tier 2, you can:
- ask your local MP to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/) within 12 months
- refer your complaint to the Office for Environmental Protection (https://www.theoep.org.uk/contact-us) (OEP) if your complaint relates to Natural England’s alleged failure to implement or comply with environmental law
If you refer your complaint to the OEP, the timeframe in which you must do this will depend on when it’s alleged that Natural England breached environmental law. If it was:
- less than 9 months before the date of Natural England’s tier 2 response letter, you must make your complaint to the OEP within 12 months
- more than 9 months ago, you must raise any complaint to the OEP within 3 months of the date of Natural England’s tier 2 response letter
Privacy notice

To find out how Natural England handles your personal data if you make a complaint, see the complaints privacy notice (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-england-privacy-notices/complaints-privacy-notice).