The ‘Performance Account’ report, which provides a detailed account of the FSA’s performance, shows that against the 62 standards that were measured for the period up to 31 December 2004 just under 60 per cent were met, 22 were nearly met (over 90 per cent of the target level was achi-eved) and 16 per cent were not met.
The FSA has also introduced 11 new service standards, which include ones for cancellation of authorisation and processing of appointed representative (AR) notifications and changes to firms’ static data (for example their address).
These new standards follow discussions with firms, trade bodies and other stakeholders.
Also from April, the FSA will begin customer satisfaction measurement to help the organisation better understand how it is performing in key areas and to identify the particular areas where firms want to see an improvement.
An independent organisation will be contacting firms by telephone and will use a questionnaire (developed and tested with firms) to gauge industry views on topics such as ease of use of the application forms, the length of time the process took and the responsiveness of the FSA’s staff.
David Kenmir, managing director of the regulatory services business unit at the FSA, said: “We must be accountable and are now addressing our performance in relation to the service standards that were not met.”
John Stewart, director of PMI Independent Financial Advisers, said this report shows the FSA must improve. “If only 60 per cent of the standards were met then the glass is only slightly half full.
“It could be delivering 90 per cent of its standards requirements but the other 10 per cent could be the most important ones. I really hope it phones me up about this customer satisfaction questionnaire.”
