
Customer care
NatureScot is committed to providing high-quality customer services, and we use feedback to help us to improve.
NatureScot is committed to providing high-quality customer services, and we use feedback to help us to improve.
NatureScot is committed to high-quality customer care. If you feel we’ve fallen short, we’d like to hear from you so that we can do better next time. You can complain about an issue in person, by phone, post or email. We try to sort out all straightforward issues within 5 working days but may need longer to investigate.
If something goes wrong or you are not satisfied with our services, please tell us.
Here we describe our complaints procedure and tell you how to make a complaint. We tell you about our complaints service standards and what you can expect from us.
At NatureScot we value complaints, and use information from them to help us improve our delivery of high-quality services.
An expression of dissatisfaction by one or more members of the public about NatureScot's action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by or on behalf of NatureScot.
You can complain about things like:
Your complaint may involve more than one service or be about someone working on our behalf.
There are some things we cannot deal with through our complaints handling procedure. These include:
If other procedures or rights of appeal can help you resolve your concerns, we will give information and advice to help you.
Anyone can make a complaint to us, including the representative of someone who is dissatisfied with our service.
You can complain in person at any of our offices, by phone, in writing, by email, or by using our online enquiries form.
It is easier for us to resolve complaints if you make them quickly and directly. So please talk to a member of our staff as soon as possible. They can try to resolve any problems on the spot.
When complaining, tell us:
Normally, you must make your complaint within six months of:
In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept a complaint after the time limit. If you feel that the time limit should not apply to your complaint, please tell us why.
We will always tell you who is dealing with your complaint.
Our complaints procedure has two stages:
We aim to resolve complaints quickly and close to where we provided the service. This could mean an on-the-spot apology and explanation if something has clearly gone wrong, and immediate action to resolve the problem.
We will give you our decision at Stage 1 in 5 working days or less unless there are exceptional circumstances.
If we can't resolve your complaint at this stage, we will explain why and tell you what you can do next. We might suggest that you take your complaint to Stage 2. You may choose to do this immediately or sometime after you get our initial decision.
Stage 2 deals with 2 types of complaint: those that have not been resolved at Stage 1 and those that are complex and require detailed investigation.
When using Stage 2 we will:
After we have fully investigated, if you are still dissatisfied with our decision or the way we dealt with your complaint, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to look at it.
The Ombudsman cannot normally look at:
We understand that you may be unable, or reluctant, to make a complaint yourself. We accept complaints from the representative of a person who is dissatisfied with our service. We can take complaints from a friend or relative if you have given them your consent to complain for you.
If you have a complaint about the conduct of a board or committee member of NatureScot, you may take it to the:
Commissioner for Ethnical Standards in Public Life in Scotland
39 Drumsheugh Gardens,
EDINBURGH,
EH3 7SW
Tel: 0300 011 0550
Email: [email protected]
NatureScot
Email: [email protected]
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