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Arable Area Payment Scheme 2004
F. APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS
160. If you are not sure why you have been penalised, or if you do not fully understand a decision we have made in connection with your claim, you should first contact your local area office for a fuller explanation.
161. If you are not satisfied with this explanation and want us to review our decision, you can use the EU Agricultural Subsidy Schemes Appeals procedure. You have 60 calendar days from the date of our decision letter in which to put forward your appeal. The appeals procedure is made up of three stages - an in-house review, an external panel review and an appeal to the Scottish Land Court.
162. You can find full information on the appeals procedures (including the timescale allowed for making an appeal) in our information leaflet AP (EL) June 2001, which we issued to all farmers. You can get more copies from area offices, from the Appeals Secretariat and on our website. If you have any questions, you should write to the Appeals Secretariat at SEERAD, 47 Robb's Loan, Edinburgh, EH14 1TY. The appeals procedure does not handle complaints about standards of service.
163. If you have a complaint about the standard of service we have provided, you should do the following:
- Contact the person in the local area office who is dealing with your case. You can register a complaint by letter, by phone or in person. If you want to have your complaint considered by a more senior officer, please write to the Principal Agricultural Officer at your local area office. He or she will deal with the complaint if one of his or her staff is involved or forward it to the appropriate person. It will help us to investigate your complaint if you set out the facts as fully as possible, quoting your main farm code number. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing and investigate it properly. We aim to reply within two weeks.
- If you are not satisfied with the response, you may write to the Chief Agricultural Officer at the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department, Pentland House, 47 Robb's Loan, Edinburgh, EH14 1TY. He or she will investigate the matter further.
- You may ask your Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) or your Member of the UK Parliament to take up your complaint with the Minister for Environment and Rural Development at the Scottish Executive, Pentland House, 47 Robb's Loan, Edinburgh, EH14 1TY.
- You (or a representative you have authorised to complain on your behalf) may also ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman for your complaint to be investigated. Your representative may be an MSP, a local councillor or any person you consider suitable to represent your interests. You must send your complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman at 23 Walker Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7HX, within 12 months after the day on which you first had a reply on the matter you are complaining about. You can find more information on the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman at www.scottishombudsman.org.uk
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