Our standards

Answering telephone calls

We will answer 90% of calls within 15 seconds during normal working hours (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday).

Your right to know

We will provide written responses within 10 working days. If we cannot do this, we will let you know when you can expect to hear from us. As of 1 January, 2005, we will aim to send you a full response within 20 working days as specified by the Freedom of Information Act. Or for requests under the Data Protection Act, we will send a full response within 40 days.

Flood Information Service

We will answer 90% of calls to Floodline within 15 seconds (a Welsh-speaking service is also available). We will send out 99% of Floodline information packs by the next working day.

Flood warnings

We will provide flood warnings at least two hours before flooding happens in areas where we are able to provide a service.

Information on navigation locks (on rivers where we are the navigation authority)

We will publicise all planned closures for repairs and maintenance, giving at least one month's notice.

Attending incidents we belive have a major effect on the environment

In the case of navigation, pollution or fisheries incidents which we believe are likely to have a major effect on the environment, we will be there within two hours (four hours if outside normal hours).

Feedback on incident reports

Whenever we are told about an incident, we will make sure that we let the person who reported it know what the problem was and what we have done to fix it.

Permit applications

Once we have received your application (please make sure it is filled in properly and includes all the information we need, including the fee where appropriate), we will start processing it. Different types of application take different periods to process.