Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:03:45 +0100 Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Dispute (DISP) resolution guidance and related questions From: K Billings To: IMFreturns Dear IMFreturns, Your Ref: ISS01108533 I find it a little concerning that several aspects of FOI legislation do not appear to be being adhered to here. I am expecting a response in 20 days but there is no reference to this time limit in your response here, nor your response to an earlier FOI of mine. Nor is there any indication as to when I am likely to get a response. Indeed there appears to be a view within the FSA that a request for information can be removed from the FOI system and treated as a customer services request, as if the two are different. Any request for information held by the FSA and put in writing technically falls under FOI. You should also be aware that your technical application of FOI leaves a great deal to be desired in my view. Your FOI form on your web site breaches both FOI and DP legislation in that it insists on being provided with a name, an address, etc. when this is not required under the FOI Act 2000 and indeed is 'excessive data collection' under the DP Act 1998. An email address is all that is needed for responding to an electronically submitted request and you have no right to know who the requestor is or their reasons for making their request(s). Your form in my view should be amended to make this clear, open and transparent to all those who approach you via this route. These are just a few points in the spirit of helpfulness. K Billings -----Original Message----- Our Ref: .ISS01108533 In order that we can deal with this matter as quickly as possible please do not delete the Subject line of this email when you reply. You can add further wording to it but please do not Remove "ISS01108533". Dear Ms Billings Thank you for your email dated 27 September 2009, addressed to the Freedom of Information department. The Customer Contact Centre has been asked to respond. You have written to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) with questions relating to the Dispute Resolution (DISP) handbook. In particular your questions relate to DTA and endowment mis-selling. Firstly, I would like to thank you for taking the time to prepare and send us your enquiry. Regrettably, due to a high level of correspondence, the FSA has recently experienced difficulty in replying to correspondence within the 12 working days that we aim for. I would like to apologise for this delay and wish to assure you that we are working hard to address this. Unfortunately, we are not currently in a position to send a response immediately. I want to assure you, however, we endeavour to provide consumers and firms with a complete answer for all of their queries and therefore, we often seek guidance from other departments. I can confirm I have sought guidance and assistance from our DISP policy area. We will send you our final response in due course. Please accept my apologies for the continued delay. I trust this is of assistance. Yours sincerely Nicholas Offord (Mr) Customer Contact Centre Financial Services Authority Firm Helpline: 0845 606 9966 www.fsa.gov.uk Let us know what you think of the service provided by the Customer Contact Centre by sending your comments to: [email address] The Financial Services Authority will shortly be carrying out a customer satisfaction survey which is being conducted by an independent research company. You may be asked to provide feedback on the handling of your query and the response you received. 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