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ASRU is committed to providing a high-quality service to the community it regulates.

This complaints form and process is intended for the regulated sector – individuals and organisations who receive a regulatory service from ASRU.

It should not be used by members of the public or organisations seeking to report concerns about animal welfare, activities at licensed establishments, or government policy.

Complaints from individuals or organisations outside the regulated sector should be sent to the Animals in Science Regulation Policy Unit animalsinsciencepolicy@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Our complaints process provides a formal route for the regulated sector to bring a complaint to the attention of ASRU. Monitoring and evaluating how we deliver our services is an important part of ensuring the regulated community receives a continually improving service.

We take all complaints seriously and aim to resolve them in a fair and timely manner.

How to complain

Our complaints process has 2 stages:

1. Informal: raise your concern or issue with the appropriate team using their dedicated mailbox
2. Formal: if you are not satisfied with the response, you can escalate your concern or issue by completing our online complaints form and emailing it to:  ASRUOperationalRelationshipManagement@Homeoffice.gov.uk

Where we cannot help

This process cannot consider:

• ongoing enforcement investigations – any complaints relating to enforcement cases under investigation cannot be progressed until the case has concluded
• Freedom of Information requests – How to make a freedom of information (FOI) request
• complaints about legislation or government policy
• matters already fully considered through the complaints process

Our standards for handling complaints

After receiving your complaint:

• we will acknowledge receipt
• we may contact you for further information
• we aim to complete our investigation into your complaint within 20 working days of receiving your complaint
• if we cannot send a full reply within 20 working days, we will tell you the reason why and let you know when we will be able to reply in full

If you wish to provide new information or evidence at any time throughout the complaints process, you are welcome to do so. However, this may delay your case. If this happens, you will be notified of the expected revised timescales.

In our response to your complaint we will:

• explain anything that went wrong
• set out any steps that have been or will be taken to put matters right

Concerns or issues that can be raised

You can raise with us any aspect of the regulatory service provided by ASRU that you disagree with such as:

• the outcome of a decision
• a member of staff that has acted incorrectly
• work has taken longer than our published indicative timelines

We will tell you if we need to investigate the issues you raise in more detail.

Any complaints or issues regarding ASRU’s policies should be sent to the Animals in Science Regulation Policy Unit animalsinsciencepolicy@homeoffice.gov.uk

Unresolved complaints

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, or believe it has not been handled appropriately, you should contact us again and ask for your complaint to be escalated to the Head of ASRU to review.