Letters to Government Editing and Proofreading Services

The letter to the MP runs to two pages: a description of the pothole, a history of the council's failures over a decade, a theory about local politics, a complaint about a different road entirely, and a request at the very end to "please look into this." A caseworker reading forty letters a week needs one sentence telling them what is being asked for, and this letter makes them dig for it.

We edit what constituents and residents write to elected representatives and public bodies — letters and emails to a member of parliament, councillor or senator, letters to a government department or local authority, planning objections and consultation responses, petitions and their covering letters, letters supporting a specific case such as a visa or benefits appeal, and the follow-up sent when a first letter receives only an acknowledgement. Our editors work on letters read by a caseworker deciding whether to escalate them.

The single clear ask is what makes a letter to a representative worth answering, and its failure is a grievance with no request attached to it. A caseworker who cannot identify what is being asked for logs the letter and moves on. We work through these so the ask appears in the first two sentences — a meeting, a specific intervention, support for a named proposal, an answer to a named question — since a letter that leads with background before reaching the request gets skimmed rather than read; so personal impact is included specifically, because "this affects local residents" is background and "I have missed two hospital appointments due to the bus service cut" is a case; so one issue is addressed per letter, given that a letter raising several unrelated grievances at once gets a single generic reply that answers none of them properly; so any relevant facts, dates or reference numbers are included, as these are what let a caseworker actually look into something rather than merely acknowledge it; so the tone stays factual even where the writer is angry, because a representative's office is more likely to act on a letter it can quote in a follow-up than one it would have to soften first; so what response is wanted is stated, whether that is a reply, a meeting or a question raised in a chamber or council session; and so the letter is signed with a full name and address, since many offices only act on correspondence from a constituent they can verify. Letters written this way get replies that say something.

Everything you send is treated in confidence, including your personal circumstances and the matter you are raising. We are editors rather than lawyers, lobbyists or policy advisors, and we offer no view on the merits of your case or the policy involved. What we can do is make sure the letter says clearly what you want done.