Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Financial Ombudsman Service on streamlining their complaints procedure to reduce the time taken for customer cases to be resolved.

The Treasury regularly meets with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to discuss a variety of matters. For example, I meet regularly with the Chief Executive and the Chair of the FOS.

Improving timeliness and customer service is central to the FOS’ plans for the future. The FOS’ Board has recently commissioned an independent review of the FOS, to ensure that the FOS can continue to effectively meet the needs of its customers. The results of the review will be published in due course.

The FOS is an independent, non-governmental body. In view of this independence, it would not be appropriate for the Government to comment further on the detail of operational matters at the FOS.