The Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature (OCEAN) Grants Programme is committed to the highest standards of integrity, accountability, and ethical conduct in the delivery of services and activities. To ensure accountability, OCEAN’s concern reporting facility supports the reporting of suspected illegal, unethical, or improper conduct; whilst our Complaints Procedure provides a fair and transparent process for receiving, addressing, and resolving complaints about OCEAN’s services, actions, decisions, or conduct.  

Report a Concern

All organisations and individuals involved in OCEAN-funded projects and its wider programming have a responsibility to identify, act on, and report concerns promptly when they arise. This reporting facility should be used to report concerns including, but not limited to: 

• Fraud, corruption, or financial misconduct  
• Money laundering or aid diversion  
• Safeguarding concerns, including Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH)  
• Human trafficking or modern slavery  
• Terrorism financing  
• Any other serious violations related to OCEAN-funded programmes, personnel, or partners 

All lead organisations, partners, consultants, contractors, grantees, applicants, suppliers, stakeholders, and associated persons involved in Defra funded OCEAN projects are required to act immediately when a serious concern is suspected or identified and to report such concerns directly to Defra as they arise. OCEAN has a zero tolerance for inaction on any form of sexual exploitation, abuse or harassment (SEAH). 

Reporting to Defra is mandatory and does not replace any internal project-level or statutory reporting obligations. Concerns should be reported using the appropriate contact below: 

• Fraud and error concerns: fraudanderror@defra.gov.uk  
• Safeguarding concerns (including SEAH): ODA.Safeguarding@defra.gov.uk  
• Other concerns: OCEAN Defra Policy Team: OCEAN@defra.gov.uk  

Please be aware that all safeguarding and fraud concerns must always be submitted directly to Defra using the appropriate contacts above. 

OCEAN is committed to providing a fair and transparent process for addressing and resolving complaints. This Complaints Procedure is designed to provide a formal route to bring a complaint to the attention of OCEAN and ensure that complaints are handled promptly, objectively, and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.  

If you are dissatisfied with the services, actions, decisions, or conduct of OCEAN, or the information you have been given by us, then you can follow the steps detailed below to submit a complaint to OCEAN.  

Step 1

Raise any initial complaint with our Grant Administrators NIRAS via the OCEAN Helpdesk email: helpdesk@oceangrants.org.uk.

A member of the administration team will be in touch within five working days to help resolve your problem.

Step 2

If you feel your concerns have not been dealt with and would like to submit a formal complaint, then you can do so with our OCEAN Grant Administrators NIRAS via the OCEAN complaints email: complaints@oceangrants.org.uk.

All formal complaints will be acknowledged within two working days and will be formally reviewed by a panel of experts from NIRAS and Defra.  You will receive a response from the panel confirming the outcome of your complaint within 20 working days. If it is not possible to resolve your complaint within 20 working days, then you will receive notification of this confirming the expected timeframe for resolving your complaint.

Step 3 

If your report is regarding a serious concern, incident or complaint, or if you do not feel comfortable submitting your report to NIRAS via the above channels, then you should submit your report via email directly to Defra using the email addresses provided below. You can also refer to the OCEAN Whistleblowing Policy to find confidential reporting channels to confidentially file a complaint directly to Defra.

Please be aware that if your report is concerning a Fraud or Safeguarding concern, then these should be always submitted directly to Defra.

• Fraud and error concerns: fraudanderror@defra.gov.uk
• Safeguarding concerns (including SEAH): ODA.Safeguarding@defra.gov.uk
• Other concerns: OCEAN Defra Policy Team: OCEAN@defra.gov.uk

Appeals Process

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint or you do not feel like it has been fully resolved, then you have the right to submit an appeal for the complaint to be escalated.

Appeals can only be submitted once and are time limited to within 28 days of receiving notification of the outcome of your complaint.  The appeal should explain why you are dissatisfied with the received outcome of your complaint and be submitted to the Defra OCEAN Team’s email: ocean@defra.gov.uk.

The appeal will then be formally reviewed by a panel of Defra experts and if deemed appropriate referred to the Defra Service Standards Adjudicator with a formal response provided within writing within 20 working days.