Cefas charter

What is Cefas?

Cefas, an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), is an internationally recognised centre of excellence for research, assessment and advice on fisheries management, aquaculture and environment protection.

We provide the following services:

assessment and advice for managing and conserving fisheries, and for the conservation of marine and freshwater ecosystems
environmental monitoring and assessment of nutrients, radionuclides, chemicals and other contaminants in the environment
advice on aquaculture, disease control and hygiene of fish and shellfish
incidents and emergency response service
research and project management in support of the services above.

The agency's aims

The Aim of Cefas is to be the prime source of high quality scientific support to Defra and other customers engaged in:

conserving and enhancing the aquatic environment
promoting rational management of its natural resources
protecting the public from aquatic contaminants

We achieve this by:

delivering the service our customers require in terms of understanding their needs, quality, reliability and price
making the full use of the talents of our people, reflected in Investors In People accreditation
developing high levels of expertise by incorporation of relevant scientific and legislative developments
seeking accreditation, as appropriate, to national standards such as the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)
running our business effectively.
The Cefas core values of integrity, excellence, customer focus, concern for people and continuous improvement are integral to the way we work.

Standards of service

We endeavour to provide all of our customers with excellent service. Such customers include Defra, other UK and international government departments, the EC, industry, regulatory and enforcement agencies, local authorities and other organisations.

Standards of service specific to the needs of these customers are included within agreements and contracts, eg, the advice, data or other outputs required, how they will be achieved, the timetable for achievement, progress reports and final delivery of the service. We fully discuss customer requirements both before and during the delivery of the work.

The standards of service for our Fish Health Inspectorate are included within the Charter 'The Fish Health Inspectorate and You'.

In addition to these specified standards, we aim to achieve the following standards for our dealings with the public, businesses and non-government organisations:

sending out full replies to letters within 15 working days of receipt in Cefas. In cases where it is not possible to respond fully within that time, eg, because of the need to consult an outside body or obtain a legal opinion, a holding reply will be sent explaining the reason for the delay, when a response can be expected and the name and contact number of the person dealing with the case seeing people within 10 minutes of the time of appointment at our Laboratories responding to telephone enquiries within two working days, in writing or by a return telephone call.

Enforcement procedures

We have adopted the provisions of the central and local government Enforcement Concordant. This commits us to good enforcement policies and procedures, based on agreed standards, openness, helpfulness, proportionate action, consistency and a clear complaints procedure.

In relation to our work on licensing deposits at sea under the Food and Environment Protection Act, Part II, we undertake visits on behalf of the Marine Waterways Division of Defra and may have to recommend enforcement action. If so, we will:

give advice clearly and simply and distinguish best practice from legal requirements; discuss problems with you and where possible try to resolve points of difference before recommending formal enforcement action.

How to contact us

If you wish to contact us to find out more about the services we provide please contact our marketing manager.

For general information please contact our main reception.

We can provide general information, including leaflets, free of charge, and if there is a charge for providing detailed information you will be told when you make a request.

Contact numbers and addresses are given below. Between 0900-1700 Monday-Friday your enquiry will be answered personally. For calls outside these hours there is a telephone answering service available.

If you cannot be advised or helped immediately you will be put in touch with a relevant member of staff.

Enquiries from customers about work which we are undertaking for you should be directed to the agreed Cefas contact.

Courtesy and helpfulness

We will be helpful, polite and fair in our dealings with you. We will identify ourselves by name when we meet, talk or write to you.

Complaints, comments and suggestions

We encourage users to give both positive and negative feedback on the way we operate or the services we provide so we can identify where improvements are needed.

If we are undertaking work for you and you are not entirely satisfied with the service you receive, please raise the matter with the Cefas contact who provided the service. Alternatively, and for other cases, please contact Lisa Sivyer at the number and address below. We will do our best to put the matter right as quickly as possible; this will include, where appropriate, an apology and an explanation.

Any complaints, whether written or oral, will be investigated thoroughly, fairly and in confidence. If you need assistance in using these procedures Lisa Sivyer is available to help.

All complaints will be acknowledged within three working days. We aim to provide a substantive reply within 10 working days and if this is not possible, we will explain how your complaint is being handled and why it will take longer.

If you are not satisfied with the reply you can write to Richard Judge, the Chief Executive. He will review the situation on your behalf and respond within 10 working days. If this is not possible, he will write to you explaining why and letting you know when you may expect a response.

If you are not satisfied with Richard Judge's decision you may write to a Member of Parliament and ask for your complaint to be passed to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Parliamentary Ombudsman) or you can write to the Rt Hon Jonathan Shaw MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR. The Parliamentary Ombudsman is Ann Abraham, Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP. Telephone: 0845 015 4033. Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk. However, as already stated, she can only act when asked to do so by a Member of Parliament.

What we ask of you

It will help us to provide the best service if you give us as much information and notice of your requirements as possible, and are responsive to our requests for feedback.

Implementation

This Charter was implemented in May 2002, and is reviewed annually.

We will monitor the effectiveness of our complaints procedure and our performance against the standards in this Charter. The results will be reported to the Cefas Management Board every 3 months and will be included in our published Annual Report and Accounts.

We will consult users including industry representatives about the standards of services we provide. Any changes we make as a result of consultation will be described in our Annual Report and Accounts. Please let us have your comments, as they could help us to improve our service in the future.

Charter mark

The Charter Mark award scheme is the UK governments national standard for excellence in public service. If you have received an excellent service and would like to nominate us or any other organisation for the Charter Mark award, please write, telephone or email your nomination to:

Charter Mark Team
Government Communications
Policy Projects Team
22/26 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2WH
Tel: 020 7276 1720
email: chartermark@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk

Steven Lerpiniere
Marketing Manager
(further information about services) Tel: 44 (0) 1502 527716
Fax: 44 (0) 1502 524569
Email: marketing@cefas.co.uk

Cefas Reception
(general enquiries) Tel: 44 (0) 1502 562244
Fax: 44 (0) 1502 513865
Email: reception@cefas.co.uk

Lisa Sivyer
(comments, complaints, suggestions)
Tel: 44 (0) 1502 524274
Fax: 44 (0) 1502 513515
Email: lisa.sivyer@cefas.co.uk

Richard Judge
Chief Executive
Tel: 44 (0) 1502 524334
Fax: 44 (0) 1502 524515
Email: richard.judge@cefas.co.uk