We communicate with firms and consumers in many ways. Our audiences include MPs, firms and consumers.
Contents
Supervision Hub
Our Supervision Hub[1] is our first point of contact for firms and consumers. It includes dedicated consumer and firm helplines and online communication. We also update our website to help firms and consumers find information on their own. The Supervision Hub:
- Helps consumers identify and avoid fraud, scams and other issues through direct conversations.
- Guides firms who are considering becoming FCA-authorised.
- Directly supports firms to increase compliance whilst reducing burden.
- Provides data and insights to shape policy and priorities and improve processes across the FCA.
We measure the performance of our telephone and correspondence services as detailed under each graph. 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)
- is from a consumer
Exclusions:
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 hub standards
Unanswered telephone calls
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The percentage of calls that are ended before being answered, called ‘the abandonment rate’, should be less than 5%. We answered 98.1% of calls, with an abandonment rate of 1.9%, meeting our target of <5%.
Average speed to answer
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The average speed of answers (ASA) has a voluntary target of less than 120 seconds. Our firm hub ASA of 58 seconds was comfortably within target.
Satisfaction scores (telephony)
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Our Firm Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score has a voluntary target of over 80%. Scores are based on post-call surveys that ask callers about their experience with us. Our firm telephony CSAT score was above our target all year.
Responding to email/webform/webchat
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The percentage of emails, web forms and webchats that receive a substantive response within 2 working days has a voluntary target of more than 90%. Our service level for email correspondence from firms was above our target all year.
Responding to letters
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The percentage of letters answered within 5 days has a voluntary target of 90%. Our service level for letter correspondence was above our target, reaching over 90% throughout the year.
Satisfaction scores (correspondence)
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Our Firm Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score has a voluntary target of over 80%. Scores are based on surveys that ask people who contact us a range of questions about their experience with us. Our firm correspondence CSAT score for the year met our target.
Consumer hub standards
Unanswered telephone calls
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The percentage of calls that are hung up before being answered, called the abandonment rate, should be less than 5%. We answered 97.2% of the calls we got on our consumer hub, with an abandonment rate of 2.8%, meeting our target of <5%.
Average speed to answer
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The average speed to answer (ASA) has a target of less than 120 seconds. Our consumer hub ASA of 49 seconds was well within target.
Satisfaction scores (telephony)
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Our Consumer Satisfaction (CSAT) score has a voluntary target of over 80%, based on post-call surveys that ask about callers’ experiences with us. Our consumer telephony CSAT score was above target at 90% all year.
Responding to email/webform/webchat
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The percentage of emails, web forms and webchats that receive a substantive response within 2 working days has a voluntary target of more than 90%. Our service level for email correspondence from consumers was above our target at 97.2% this year.
Responding to letters
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The percentage of letters answered within 5 days has a voluntary target of 90%. Our service level for responding to letters from consumers was 97.8%, which is above our target.
Satisfaction scores (correspondence)
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Our Consumer Satisfaction (CSAT) score has a voluntary target of over 80%. Scores are based on surveys that ask people who contact us a range of questions about their experience with us. Our consumer correspondence CSAT score was 79.6%, which is slightly below our target. When consumers expressed dissatisfaction, it was often due to a mismatch between their expectations and our remit/responsibilities, such as the belief the FCA should recover scam losses. We are improving our 'Contact Us' page and correspondence to better explain our role and direct consumers to those who can help with issues outside our scope and remit.
MPs’ letters
As part of our accountability to Parliament, we respond to requests for information from MPs and peers through:
- letters
- parliamentary questions
We must reply fully and promptly 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 Parliament
- the Northern Ireland Assembly
These letters might be sent on behalf of a constituent or groups of constituents.
We have a target to provide 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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The number of letters we received this reporting period was slightly lower than last year (435 in 2024/25, compared to 488 in 2023/24). This was because of a significant drop over the General Election period.
We did not meet the overall 15 and 20-day service level targets. This was due to a significant number of cases that were complex, fast moving and had a knock-on effect on unrelated cases. But we improved performance, achieving the 15-day target in 8 months during this period.
We delayed the introduction of Customer Relationship Management software, which will support the case management of MPs letters and deliver efficiencies. We wanted to review the cost of the planned software and subsequently chose software offering better value for money.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
The FOI Act requires us to respond to a request for recorded information within 20 working days. This can be extended by another 20 working days in certain situations. Our statutory target is to respond to 100% of requests within these timeframes. However, the Information Commissioner accepts that public bodies, including us, may not always meet these statutory requirements. So, our target is to complete 90% of FOIA requests within this timeframe.
During 2024/25 we received 812 requests under FOIA. This is a slight decrease (9%) on the previous year.
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Our performance this year was 94.1%, with 775 requests completed, 729 of which were within the statutory timeframe. This is an improvement from 2023/24, when we closed 825 of 916 (90.1%) requests within the statutory timeframe.
We expect to maintain and further improve these results in 2025/26 by continuing to streamline our processes, implement a more flexible resourcing model and technology enhancements across the organisation.
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 Data Subject Access Request (DSARs) are the main type of request received. This can be extended by another 2 months for more complex requests. The Information Commissioner accepts that public bodies, including us, may not always 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 2024/25 decreased to 252 (from 298 in 2023/24). During the same period, we closed 239 IRRs, of which 233 (97.5%) were responded to within the target timeframe (98.4% in 2023/24) a significant improvement from 67.2% in 2022/23.
We expect to maintain and further improve these results in 2025/26 as we streamline our processes, implement a more flexible resourcing model and technology enhancements across the organisation.
Complaints
Under the Financial Services Act 2012, we must have a Complaints Scheme[2] to investigate complaints about how we carry out our duties. The law requires that complaints are investigated as quickly as possible.
Our operating service metrics for responding to complaints are:
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 tell the complainant about their right to ask for a Stage 1 investigation, which is handled by our independent internal Complaints Department.
Acknowledgement: Our voluntary target is to acknowledge 95% of complaints within 5 working days of receipt.
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.
Complaints response rates: completion ‐ local area
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Complaints response rates: acknowledgement ‐ stage 1 investigations
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Complaints response rates: completion ‐ stage 1 investigations
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During 2024/25, we received 1,297 and closed 1,963, complaints compared to the 1,683 complaints received and 1,689 closed in 2023/24, reducing the number of open complaints.
In 2024/25, we continued to invest in our resources, training, and processes to improve our handling of complaints.
Through these interventions and process improvements we have:
- Reached a green rating for complaints that are most appropriately dealt with by the relevant business area, achieving 96.7%, compared to 86.9% in 2023/24. Our target is 95%.
- Continued to exceed our target of 95% for our initial acknowledgement of complaints achieving 98.5%, a slight increase from 98.3% in 2023/24.
- Maintained our target of 95% for complaints handled by the complaints team, achieving 95.1% in 2024/25 and 96.9% in 2023/24.
Payment of suppliers
We have a voluntary target to pay a minimum of 80% of all invoices within our standard payment terms of 30 days. We have improved the time taken to settle supplier invoices compared to last 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 2024/25
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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. We have consistently met this target for the last 3 years.
FCA systems
We monitor the availability of our Information Services (IS) systems to meet our voluntary standard of 98.5% availability within the specified times for each system.
The Financial Services Register
A public record of financial services firms, individuals, and other bodies under our regulatory jurisdiction, as defined in FSMA.
Ensure availability 24 hours x 365 days.
FCA website
Our main digital channel for consumer and firm audiences.
Ensure availability 24 hours x 365 days.
RegData (Regulatory Data) submission system
Our system for collecting, validating, and storing regulatory data.
Ensure availability Mon-Fri, 7am-10pm, and Sat-Sun, 8am-5pm.
Availability of RegData
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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
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Graphs CM11.4 show we exceeded our target with 100% availability.