As a public body, transparency is critical to how we operate. We communicate with firms and consumers in many ways. Our audiences range from MPs and firms to consumers and the wider public.
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Supervision Hub
Our Supervision Hub[1] is our first point of interaction with firms and consumers. It includes dedicated consumer and firm helplines as well as email and online communication. We are committed to providing online and telephone support. We regularly review the queries we receive. We update our website to encourage and allow firms and consumers to self-serve where they can.
Our Supervision Hub’s purpose is to:
- prevent harm through direct conversations with consumers to identify and avoid fraud, scams, and other detriment
- guide firms to understand their regulatory responsibilities and increase their compliance and standards
- deliver data and actionable intelligence across the FCA
Telephone calls
We monitor the performance of our telephony service by measuring:
- The proportion of calls that are ended before they are answered, known as ‘the abandonment rate.’ Our voluntary target is less than 5%.
- The average speed to answer (ASA). Our voluntary target is less than 120 seconds.
- Our Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score. Our voluntary target is over 80%. Our CSAT score is derived from post-call surveys which ask callers a range of questions about their experience interacting with the FCA.
Letters, emails, web forms and webchat
We monitor the performance of our correspondence service by measuring:
- The proportion of emails, web forms and webchats that we provide a substantive response to within 2 working days. Our voluntary target is more than 90%.
- The proportion of letters that we respond to within 5 days. Our voluntary target is 90%.
- Our Consumer Satisfaction (CSAT) score. Our voluntary target is over 80%. Our CSAT score is derived from surveys which ask those who contact us a range of questions about their experience interacting with the FCA.
These standards apply to correspondence that:
- requires a response
- is addressed to our Supervision Hub
- is from a regulated firm or organisation (or from its professional adviser where the firm or entity name is given)
- from a consumer
The standards do not include correspondence subject to statutory operating service standards. For example, requests for information under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Chart tips: hover over the data series to view the data values and filter the data categories by clicking on the legend.
Firm helpline standards
Unanswered telephone calls
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We answered 97.8% of the calls we received, with the abandonment rate (2.2%) being within our tolerance of <5%.
Average speed of answer
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Our average speed of answer of 49 seconds was well within our tolerance of <120 seconds for the year.
Satisfaction scores (telephony)
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Our telephony CSAT score was above our voluntary target of 80% throughout the year.
Satisfaction scores (correspondence)
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Our firm correspondence CSAT score for the year was 76.2%. This missed our voluntary target of 80%.
The overall score is a combination of scores relating to the individual who handled the contact, FCA systems and the overall service received.
In May 2023, 26,000 firms needed to submit regulatory returns. This resulted in additional volume to the firm helpline. The lower satisfaction score reflects the firm dissatisfaction with the resulting wait times. Without factoring in May, the scores for the individual handling the contact would have achieved the 80% target. Dissatisfaction with the FCA systems brought down the overall Customer Satisfaction score.
Responding to email/webform/webchat
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Our service level for email correspondence was above our voluntary target of 90% throughout the year.
Responding to letters
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Our service level for correspondence by letter was above our voluntary target of 90% throughout the year.
Consumer helpline standards
Unanswered telephone calls
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We answered 94.5% of calls to our consumer helpline, with the abandonment rate (5.5%) 0.5 over our tolerance of <5%.
Our Consumer abandonment rate was red between April 2023 and July 2023 due to short-term resource constraints. This meant that our capacity was reduced, and our average handling time increased, as new joiners built their skills. The abandonment rate from August 2023 onwards has been well within our tolerance.
Average speed of answer
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Our consumer helpline average speed to answer of 73 seconds was well within our tolerance of 120 seconds.
Satisfaction scores (telephony)
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Our consumer telephony CSAT score was 86.7% above our voluntary target of 80%.
Satisfaction scores (correspondence)
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Our consumer correspondence CSAT score was 80.8%, above our voluntary target of 80%.
Responding to email/webform/webchat
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Our service level for email correspondence from consumers was 90.8%, above our voluntary target of 90%.
Responding to letters
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Our service level for responding to letters from consumers was 92.8%, above our voluntary target of 90%.
MPs’ letters
As part of our accountability to Parliament, we respond to requests for information from MPs and peers through:
- letters
- parliamentary questions
- evidence to All Party Parliamentary Groups
We must give a full and prompt reply to any letter addressed to us or any member of staff from:
- Members of Parliament
- Members of the House of Lords
- Members of the Scottish Parliament
- the Welsh Assembly
- the Northern Ireland Assembly
These letters may be sent on behalf of a constituent or groups of constituents. As a public authority accountable to Parliament, it is important we provide a considered, timely response to these letters.
So, we have set a target of providing a substantive reply to 80% of letters from MPs within 15 working days and 98% within 20 days.
Our targets are paused if we need more information, for example to better understand a constituent’s concern.
Letters replied to within 15 days
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Letters replied to within 20 days
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While the volume of letters received in this reporting period was slightly lower than last year’s (510 in 2023/24, compared to 544 in 2022/23), the volumes have returned to pre-pandemic period levels.
The team was affected by considerable resource challenges during the year, causing delays. Recruitment and training of resource was completed by mid-year, which resulted in significant improvement in service levels in the second half of the year. We plan to ensure longer term resilience by having a wider pool of people available to cover short and medium-term resourcing challenges.
We had intended to introduce a Customer Relationship Management software to support the case management of MPs letters and deliver efficiencies. This has been delayed so it could be developed to be used by other teams dealing with correspondence across the FCA. It will be delivered by autumn 2024.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
The FOI Act requires a response to a request for recorded information within 20 working days. This can be extended by 20 working days in limited circumstances. Our statutory target is to respond to 100% of requests within the timeframes. However, the Information Commissioner accepts that public bodies, including us, may not always be able to meet the statutory requirements. So, our target is to complete 90% of FOIA requests within this timeframe.
During the 2023/24 financial year we received 893 requests under FOIA. This is an 9% increase on the previous year.
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Performance for April 2023 to March 2024 was 90.1%, with 825 of the 916 requests completed within the statutory timeframe. This is a marked improvement on last year, where 668 of 989 (67.5%) were closed within the statutory timeframe.
Throughout the year we have made improvements through more flexible resourcing, technology enhancements and process simplification. We will continue work in this area to ensure we are on track to remain compliant.
Data Protection requests
UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 set a timeframe of 1 month to respond to Individual Rights Requests (IRRs) of which DSARs are the main type of request received. This can be extended to 2 months for more complex requests. The Information Commissioner accepts that public bodies, including us, may not always be able to meet the statutory requirements. Our target is to complete 90% of Data Protection requests within this timeframe.
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The number of requests received under this legislation in the 2023/24 financial year increased to 298 (from 224 in 2022/23). During the same period, we closed 309 IRRs, of which 304 (98.4%) were responded to within the target timeframe, a considerable improvement from previous years (43.6% in 2021/22 and 67.2% in 2022/23).
Complaints
Under the Financial Services Act 2012, we are required to maintain a Complaints Scheme[2] for the investigation of complaints arising in connection with the exercise of, or failure to exercise any of our relevant functions. The statutory requirements include that complaints are investigated as quickly as possible.
Our operating service standards for responding to complaints are:
Acknowledgement: Our voluntary target is to acknowledge 95% of complaints within 5 business days of receipt.
Completion (complaints dealt with by the local business area): Our voluntary target is to complete an investigation and send a decision within 10 working days of receipt to 95% of complainants. The response should inform the complainant of their right to ask for a Stage 1 investigation (dealt with by the independent internal Complaints Department).
Completion (complaints dealt with by the central Complaints Department, known as Stage 1 complaints): Our voluntary target is to complete an investigation or provide complainant with a reasonable timescale to investigate the complaint within 20 working days of receipt for 95% of Stage 1 complaints.
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During 2023/24 complaints increased 1,683 in 2023/24 compared to 1,454 in 2022/23.
In 2023/24 investment in our resources, training and processes reduced our backlog and the age profile of cases. We also introduced and embedded our new Quality Assurance (QA) framework. In 2024/25 we will develop this by introducing a check-the-checker function and using information from QA checks to enhance quality.
Through these interventions and process improvements we have:
- Maintained an amber rating for Local Area response to complaints (standard 1). Achieving 86.9% in 2023/24, compared to 90.7% in 2022/23. Our target is 95%.
- Improved our initial acknowledgement of complaints (standard 2). Achieving 98.3% in 2023/24, a slight increase from 98.1% in 2022/23 against our target of 95%.
- Exceeded our target of 95% for Stage 1 completion (standard 3). Achieving 96.9% in 2023/24 and 97.8%, in 2022/23.
We expect to maintain and build on these results in 2024/25 as our team and processes continue to develop. This includes working with our business stakeholders to improve local area complaint resolution.
We now have Complaint Relationship Managers (CRMs) in local areas linked with Single Points of Contact (SPOCs) in the Complaints Team. They will share insight and themes and aid swift resolution of local area complaints, and so improve standard 1 by the end of H1 2024/25.
Payment of suppliers
We have a voluntary target to pay a minimum of 80% of all invoices in our standard payment terms of 30 days. We improved the time taken to settle supplier invoices from the previous year.
Payment of suppliers within 30 days from invoice date
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Payment of suppliers 31 to 60 days from invoice date
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Payment of suppliers more than 60 days from invoice date
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Payment of suppliers within supplier terms 2023/24
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Graph CM10.1b shows the percentage of supplier invoices paid within supplier terms, set at a voluntary target of paying 80% of all supplier invoices within agreed supplier terms. A slight improvement on the previous 2 years.
FCA systems
Our voluntary standards ensure we monitor the availability of our external facing Information Services (IS) systems. Standard: Ensure availability, 98.5% within the times below:
The Financial Services Register
A public record of financial services firms, individuals, and other bodies under our regulatory jurisdiction, as defined in FSMA. Standard: Ensure availability of the FS register system – Mon-Fri, 7am-8pm.
FCA website
Our main digital channel for consumer and firm audiences. It now includes the Fee Calculator (previously a separate service). Standard: Ensure availability of the FCA website – 24 hours x 365 days.
RegData (Regulatory Data) submission system
RegData is our system for collecting, validating, and storing regulatory data. Standard: Ensure availability of the RegData system – Mon-Fri, 7am-10pm, and Sat-Sun, 8am-5pm.
Availability of RegData
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Availability of Fee Calculator
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Availability of FCA website
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Availability of Financial Services Register
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Availability of IS systems availability
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