The Home Office aims to provide a high quality service to the public. Occasionally, however, the public will have cause to complain.
One of the ways in which we can continue to improve our service is by listening to and responding to your views.
We have tried to make the complaints process as simple as possible. We treat complaints seriously and attempt to deal with them effectively, by:
- resolving them promptly
- responding in the right way with an explanation or an apology, where we have got things wrong
- providing information on any action taken
We try to learn from complaints and take action to improve our service.
How to make a complaint
You can make a complaint by letter, fax, email or telephone.
If you know which part of the Home Office is responsible for the service you wish to complain about (or the name or title of an appropriate member of staff), please make this clear.
Please direct your complaint to:
Home Office
Direct communications unit
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
Telephone: 020 7035 4848 (during office hours, when you will be directed to the appropriate member of staff)
Fax: 020 7035 4745
Minicom: 020 7035 4742
Email: public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
If you wish to complain about an agency of the Home Office, please visit the complaints page of each website:
What happens next
If you complain by phone, we will try to resolve your complaint immediately.
If this is not possible, we will take your details and contact you as soon as possible.
If you complain in writing, by letter, fax or email, we aim to respond within 20 working days. If it is not posssible 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.
We will acknowledge where things could have been done better, and tell you what will be done to avoid the same thing happening again. Equally, if we do not uphold your complaint, we will let you know why.
Your response will include details of what to do if you believe your complaint has not been dealt with properly. You should start by contacting us again, asking for your complaint to be passed on to a more senior member of staff.
If you remain unsatisfied, you can also ask your member of Parliament to refer your case to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
