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TSC publishes 9th report on FOS accountability to Parliament

Jul 16, 2025 | TSC

Link(s):Financial Ombudsman Service: departure of CEO and ‘disrespectful’ actions of Chair – Committees – UK Parliament
Work of Financial Ombudsman Service – Committees – UK Parliament
Financial Ombudsman Service: Accountability to the House of Commons

Context

The House of Commons Treasury Select Committee has published a 9th Report on the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and its accountability to the House of Commons.  It has also published details of the correspondence and oral evidence and transcripts which relate to the report.

Key points to note and next actions

  • The report states that the Committee observed that fundamental disagreements about FOS strategy, management and operations between, on the one hand, Abby Thomas (former FOS CEO) and, on the other, the FOS Board and Chair led confidence to collapse on both sides. This collapse in confidence covered a broad range of issues and was not driven by a single event or topic. The mutual collapse in confidence led the FOS Board to dismiss Ms Thomas.
  • There is no indication of which specific issues there were fundamental disagreements about.
  • Having previously refused to answer questions on the departure of the CEO during an oral evidence session, the FOS Chair, Baroness Manzoor, told the Committee that she cannot be required to answer the Committee’s questions due to her Membership of the House of Lords.
  • MPs describe this assertion as ‘unnecessary and disrespectful’, concluding that any Peer who accepts a leadership role in a public body must also accept that such roles come with House of Commons scrutiny.
  • Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Dame Meg Hillier, said that the handling of this situation by the senior leadership of FOS has been deeply disappointing, and that the attempt to frustrate a House of Commons Committee from scrutinising the actions of a publicly accountable organisation ultimately proved unsuccessful.
  • Dame Hillier added that she hopes that this sends a clear message to any organisation, considering similar action in future, that Members of the House of Commons will seek and obtain answers to the questions they ask on behalf of the British public, whether senior officials attempt to block them or not.