Financial Ombudsman Service
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure the (a) transparency and (b) accountability of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Answered by James Murray
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is governed by the framework set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000. This includes a range of mechanisms to ensure the accountability and transparency of the FOS.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for ensuring that the FOS is, at all times, capable of exercising its statutory functions.
To support transparency and accountability, the FOS is required to lay its annual report and accounts before Parliament, and is subject to statutory audit by the National Audit Office.
Representatives of the FOS may also be called to appear before Parliamentary committees, including the Treasury Select Committee, which most recently occurred earlier this month.
HM Treasury meets regularly with both the FOS and the FCA to discuss relevant issues and performance against their statutory functions. This includes work to deliver the package of reforms announced by the Chancellor at Mansion House in November 2024, to modernise the framework under which the FOS operates and give clearer expectations to consumers and firms.
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