Reference Case Number: FOI11018
Freedom of Information: Right to know request:
Please provide me with:
- The total number of people hired in 2023 (from 1 January to 31st December 2023) whose roles have been created and/or adapted to cater to Consumer Duty.
- The total number of people hired in and/or reassigned to the FCA's supervision team in 2023 (from 1 January to 31st December 2023) whose roles have been created and/or adapted to cater to Consumer Duty supervision. If possible, please provide a breakdown of functions for those roles.
- The total number of people hired in and/or reassigned to the FCA's enforcement team in 2023 (from 1 January to 31st December 2023) whose roles have been created and/or adapted to cater to Consumer Duty enforcement. If possible, please provide a breakdown of functions for those roles.
FCA response:
The Consumer Duty provides a powerful new tool for the FCA to drive delivery of good outcomes for retail consumers. As you may be aware, we have set up a central Consumer Duty Embedding team to drive and monitor the incorporation of the Consumer Duty into FCA workplans, frameworks, systems and processes, to support colleagues across the FCA as they embed the Duty, and to undertake cross-cutting multi-firm work.
However, these additional resources are not static, and the vast majority of colleagues have needed to adapt their role to varying degrees – and at different points in time – to incorporate the Duty into their regulatory work. For example, some colleagues within our Supervision area have been required to work on special Consumer Duty projects at different times throughout 2023, based on prioritisation. This resource has been necessarily fluid depending on the nature of the project.
We therefore do not hold information on the exact number of people whose roles have been adapted or created to cater to Consumer Duty Supervision across the organisation for the time period covered in your request as the resourcing picture is fluid. The Duty is a flagship regulatory initiative for us which is mainstreamed across the work of the organisation.
As a minimum, all firm-facing colleagues are required to complete in-house Consumer Duty training, and all have access to extensive internal resources, further training, and support from the central team.