Making a complaint against government or public bodies

If you think you’ve been unfairly treated by a government department, organisation or public body you can complain. It is important to contact the body first to deal with your complaint, but if you think it hasn’t been dealt with properly you can contact the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman.

Government organisations and public bodies

If you have a complaint about a government organisation or public body you should always contact the organisation or body first to make your complaint. They will have a procedure in place to investigate your complaint and do everything they can to resolve it.

If, following the organisation’s investigation, you don’t feel the complaint has been settled to your satisfaction you can contact the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman.

Find contacts for government and other public bodies.

Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman

The Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman deals with complaints from people who believe they have suffered injustice as a result of poor administration - or the wrong applications of rules by government departments and public bodies.

The Ombudsman can deal with complaints about:

a government department or agency
local councils
health services
education services

You can find a full list of organisations that the Ombudsman can investigate on the Ombudsman website.

Making a complaint to the Ombudsman

You can make a complaint to the Ombudsman by:

filling in an online complaint form
downloading a complaint form to email or send by post
contact the Ombudsman's office by phone, email or in writing

All complaints made to the Ombudsman are treated in the strictest confidence.

Find out more about making a complaint to the Northern Ireland Ombudsman.

The European Ombudsman

The European Ombudsman investigates complaints about maladministration in the institutions and bodies of the European Union.

If you are a citizen of a Member State of the Union or live in a Member State, you can make a complaint to the European Ombudsman.

Businesses, associations or other bodies with a registered office in the Union may also complain to the Ombudsman.

European Ombudsman

Complaints about the police

The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland provides an independent impartial police complaints system for the people and the police of Northern Ireland.

Complaints against the police

The Prisoner Ombudsman

The Prisoner Ombudsman is appointed by the Minister of Justice for Northern Ireland and is completely independent of the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS).

The Prisoner Ombudsman investigates complaints from prisoners held in Northern Ireland who are unhappy with how their complaint has been responded to by the Prison Service.

Make a complaint to prison service

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What to do next

Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk

If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit. Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

Employment and Support Allowance

Call 0800 587 1377

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

Personal Independence Payment

Call 0800 587 0932

If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

For queries or advice about careers, contact the Careers Service.

For queries or advice about Child Maintenance, contact the Child Maintenance Service.

For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

If you can’t find the information you’re looking for in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) section, then for queries about:

Restrictions or regulations — contact the Department of Health
Travel advice (including self-isolation) — contact the Department of Health
Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations — contact the Department of Health or Public Health Agency

If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk and for queries about your certificate, email covidcertni@hscni.net.

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Application and payment queries can be emailed to ema_ni@slc.co.uk

For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency.

For queries or advice about birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates and research, contact the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) by email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk

For queries about the High Street Spend Local Scheme, email HSSS.mail@economy-ni.gov.uk.

For queries about:

Car tax, vehicle registration and SORN
contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Swansea
Driver licensing and tests, MOT and vehicle testing
contact the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA), Northern Ireland

If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk.

For queries or advice about passports, contact HM Passport Office.

For queries or advice about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), including parking tickets and bus lane PCNs, email dcu@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

For queries or advice about pensions, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre.

If you wish to report a problem with a road or street you can do so online in this section.

If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads.

For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) enquiry service.

For queries or advice about rates, email LPSCustomerTeam@lpsni.gov.uk

For queries or advice about 60+ and Senior Citizen SmartPasses (which can be used to get concessionary travel on public transport), contact Smartpass - Translink.

If you have a question about a government service or policy, you should contact the relevant government organisation directly. We don't have access to information about you.

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