Policing

Can you rely on the Financial Conduct Authority?

December 2024  Sometimes your dealings with a large organisation are so bad that you are left wondering whether yours is an exceptional case or whether they are fit for purpose. Occasionally your fears are borne out by the results of an independent investigation.

In March The Spotlight reported on a simple method of potentially reducing identity fraud. In the USA there is no charge for individuals to protect access to their data held by credit agencies, but in the UK this service is not free. It can cost individuals over £300 a year each.

In response to an enquiry The Information Commission said this data access was not within its area of responsibility, so the Financial Conduct Authority(FCA) was asked to comment. The FCA regulates financial services firms and financial markets in the UK. Initially the response was positive, and they asked for the printing deadline. But not only did their reply not arrive, but all further communications were ignored and not even acknowledged. Even the Head of the Press Office was unresponsive.

In May a formal complaint of unprofessional conduct was made to the FCA. Their reply outlined the process they would follow, and the time it would take. Nothing further was heard regarding the assessment or determination of the complaint, so in September the matter was referred upwards to The Office of the Complaints Commissioner (OCC) for Financial Regulators.

It may be purely co-incidence or it may be that the OCC picked up the phone to the FCA Press Office and told them to ‘sort it’. Within days a reply to the enquiry made in February was received on October 3 from the original contact at the FCA offering “apologies for the delayed response.”

Sadly that response was typical of many received from large organisations. It didn’t deal with the issue raised and regurgitated the information given to the FCA in the original enquiry. Further correspondence has proved fruitless and once again has been ignored.

New report on the FCA

But all this is no more than a minor irritation and inconvenience when compared to the experiences of others. On Tuesday, 26 November 2024, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services published what has been described as a hard-hitting report about the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The report contains over 380 pages of analysis of the testimony provided by more than 170 individuals who gave evidence.

Commenting, Lord Sikka said “The APPG’s report on the Financial Conduct Authority pulls no punches; and rightly so. It’s a justifiably hard-hitting critique of the regulator; a regulator that I have been convinced for quite some time to not be fit for purpose. The FCA is complacent, conflicted and captured; and without a major overhaul it will never deliver on the responsibilities Parliament has given it to protect consumers. For all these reasons I am proud to stand behind what is a remarkably detailed, forensic and credible body of work. Well done to all involved, particularly those that stepped forward to give evidence, especially the former and existing FCA employees.”

The key findings of the report are:

● The FCA is widely seen as incompetent

● Its integrity is called into question

● A significant number of respondents believe the FCA sometimes acts in bad faith

● Its treatment of whistleblowers and their evidence is alarming

● There is a defective organisational culture, driven from the top

● Transparency and accountability is lacking

Transformation Programme failed

In 2020-21 the FCA launched a Transformation Programme to bring about the operational changes it needed to make to improve its performance. The plan would make broad changes including structural changes, new senior management roles for key areas of responsibility, and actions aimed at delivering behavioural and cultural change.

The conclusion was that the Transformation Programme has not worked, with FCA staff alleging a toxic environment that discourages challenges to management. Whistleblowers and former employees reported bullying, discrimination and suppression of dissenting views. One former staff member described the culture as “the worst I have experienced in nearly 40 years”, while another said the organisation’s internal structure was characterised by “arrogance” and a lack of accountability.

The report, parts of which the FCA has challenged, will be uncomfortable reading for Nikhil Rathi, who became became the Chief Executive in October 2020 and currently has an annual salary of £477,000.

The report : DRAFT Call for Evidence Report - PUBLIC 

The one mouse click to reduce identity fraud.

In the USA it’s free, but in the UK it’s £311 a year

March 2024  There can be very few people who haven’t received an email, phone call or text message from someone who wants to persuade them to part with their money. They are one side of the fraud coin. The other side of the coin is identity fraud. This is where someone pretends to be you when applying for credit cards, accounts, loans, driving licences or passports. The first you might know about it is when you receive a bank statement, arrears notice, or a visit by a debt recovery service that you are not expecting.

According to an analyst’s report 1 in 25 British consumers said that their identity was stolen and misused to open financial accounts in 2023. Victims do not just pay financially, they must deal with the complications and the embarrassment, shame, anger, stress and anxiety that accompanies it.

The advice is to protect your passwords and personal information, but many may feel that this horse has already bolted because of the major data hacking breaches that have already occurred. In January it was revealed that a further 20 million email addresses had been added to over a billion user details previously known to have been stolen.

Once fraudsters have your personal details they can make applications for accounts and loans in your name. The finance companies are naturally cautious and want to minimise bad debts, so they like to know if the applicant is credit worthy or has, for example, county court judgements against them for defaulting on payments. This is where Credit Agencies come into the picture.

If you have a bank account or credit cards, or have a mortgage or loans, tCredit Agencies will know about it. They know so much about you that they can even give you a credit score which will reflect any risk a financial institution might have to consider. A lender will want to check with one or more of the three main UK Credit Agencies before advancing you money or extending credit. Lenders who cannot search your credit file would be reckless if they advanced cash or credit in such circumstances.

Not me, guv

There is a simple way to manage your credit details and reduce identity fraud - but whilst free in the USA it is hugely expensive in the UK. This needs to change but might require legislation.

Despite all the fuss about Data Protection whenever you want to know something, it seems that the data you do not have control over is your credit history. Your credit file is regularly updated by the agencies and is available to legitimate enquirers. The Information Commissioner was asked why we have no control over this data. The response was that it did not fall within the Commissioner’s area of responsibility and the question should be put to the Financial Conduct Authority. A reply is awaited.

Click and lock

Everyone can request their own credit file reports but freezing or locking access to the file seems to be the best way to alert lenders to a potential problem. It is especially appropriate for older and vulnerable readers for whom it will be no inconvenience, as they may never need to make a credit application again.

Although in the USA consumers have a legal right to do this free of charge, in the UK we have no similar right. When asked why, one of the agencies said that customer compensation isn't as great in the USA, and that's why they have a legal right to a free locking facility. But even our generous UK compensation doesn't deal with the repercussions of identity fraud.

What is available in the UK?

Trans Union do not offer the locking service. It will cost £131.88 a year per person with Experian, and £179.40 with Equifax.

£311.28 a year per person (£622.56 for a couple) is an enormous annual bill for a pensioner or vulnerable adult to have to pay to control their own data and protect themselves. It begs the question - why does someone have to pay to stop their data being given to a third party without consent?

Password protection

As an alternative all three agencies offer free password schemes to help reduce the risks. The credit file will contain a notice (NOC) to lenders that they cannot access your file without you providing the password. If everything works well the fraudster will (hopefully) not know your password, the application will be rejected, and the attempted fraud will fail.

But cyber experience suggests that passwords are not an ideal solution, and it seems more secure to reduce fraud with just a click of the mouse. Locking might not be widely used by those still economically active and requiring new credit, but the elderly and vulnerable who are often the victims are probably the least likely to need new credit opportunities, and might be happy for their files to be safely locked.

Since this article was written in March the BBC has reported on the impact of identity fraud on the lives of the victims. You can listen on BBC Sounds to Radio 4’s You and Yours episodes broadcast on 17 April and 23 April.

Vehicle thieves and burglars still active, so make your home and business secure 

Groby a hot spot area for burglaries

Update August 2021  Figures released by the Police show that in the first 6 months 45% of all burglaries in the 52 villages were carried out in Groby.  Local burglaries peaked at 11 in May, falling to 2 in June, following the arrest of a suspect.

March 2021  An apparent upsurge in crime locally may have left Groby residents feeling that the police are right to describe the village as a hotspot area. With a one month peak of 22 burglaries through the whole Bosworth policing area last October, there were only 20 recorded for the following four months to the end of February 2021.

But last month the police warned residents that the village appeared to be targeted by burglars, and the Pymm Ley Lane area seemed to be a particular focus for attention. A few days later they reported another break in, this time on Castell Drive, and then on 25 April they said an address on Field Court Road had been targeted overnight.

“We think a male on a cycle was responsible,” said a spokesperson about the Castell Drive incident. “CCTV shows the offence occurring around 03.20 this morning. Please bear in mind that this appears to be a hot spot area now for burglaries. We will continue to patrol but we really need to encourage you all to consider a suitable doorbell camera. The best evidence is witness information or CCTV. Please remain vigilant. The most recent one was a smashed rear window as the point of entry.”

They said that in the three and a half months to 16 April there had been 11 domestic burglaries over the 52 villages they cover in the Bosworth, Ratby, Groby, Markfield and Stanton Constabulary area, but 5 of these have been in Groby. The Field Court Road incident took this to 6 by 25 April, and this means that around half the burglaries so far this year throughout the 52 villages have occurred in Groby.

“We identified an increase in burglary offences in Groby so at the relevant times local officers and response colleagues were deployed to disrupt offenders and detect crime.” a spokesperson added. “Officers have made direct contact with 320 residents. We encouraged the installation of CCTV which is an excellent deterrent. We are also working with the local authority to review street lighting in the area.”

Meanwhile social media was also reporting night time criminal activity, including

• • the theft of charity bag items that had been left out overnight for collection the following morning, and items from cars.

  • Another posting reported the theft of an e-bike from Ratby Road early Sunday morning 25 April. The residents had been awake until 3am with their little boy unwell. Up again at 5.30 and the back garden door was open and the bike missing.

  • On 26 April the theft of a Nissan Juke was reported from Oakmeadow Way including some sentimental items.

  • A canvas bag found in the spinney was subsequently traced to it’s owner.

  • A few days earlier a posting reported that someone had slashed car tyres on Laundon Way.

  • Another vandalism incident at Quarry Park at the end of April with the likely sawing off a bench slat.

It’s likely that even with all this activity Groby still has less crime than other areas. For example, the levels of crime in Westcotes, the Warwick Way and Dishley estates in Loughborough, and Braunstone Frith, may be much higher, explaining why last year they each received up to £550,000 to detect and prevent burglary, theft and robbery. The funding came from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund, which earmarked £25m for increased detection and prevention measures across England and Wales to target acquisitive crime.

A comparison of burglary rates for Westcotes and Bosworth for the six months ended February 2020 removes the impact of any crime reduction initiatives and shows that Westcotes had more than four times as many burglaries compared to Bosworth when the difference in population is taken into account.

The Safer Streets proposals included fixed number plate recognition/CCTV cameras on existing lampposts so as to be able to understand who is going in and out of the area , re-deployable CCTV (pan, tilt, zoom) at key locations to further deter/gather intelligence – moved every 8 weeks to give coverage. Another initiative is to offer every household a property vulnerability assessment and fit appropriate items and distribute property marking kits.

“With entry and exits to Groby limited to the A50 junctions, the Ratby Road and Newtown Linford Lane, Groby may be ideal for the deployment once again of number plate recognition cameras,” suggested one resident. For years the village has called for an increased police presence, but budget limitations have meant the available cash has had to go to those areas with the greatest problems. Although the number of burglaries throughout the 52 villages is relatively small, if the current problems are more than a short term anomaly it may be that Groby is not only top of the Bosworth burglary table, but is also working its way up the league table of problem areas overall, but that is just conjecture.

Goodbye PC Ian Wardle

Here's why he'll be leaving the local beat

A policeman walking the streets of Groby will have made many residents think they had stepped into a time warp and been transported back to the 20th century. Sadly they had not been given a new lease of life, they had just seen the proactive approach to policing practised by PC Ian Wardle. And just as his work in the village was starting to yield results the news comes that he is being moved on.

PC Wardle has been one of four officers based at Market Bosworth. This neighbourhood covers a large rural area that includes over 50 villages including Ratby, Groby, Markfield, Newbold Verdon, Desford, Kirkby Mallory, Barlestone and Twycross, as well as Market Bosworth. Ian is not being replaced and his duties will have to be picked up by the remaining 3 officers at Market Bosworth.

Local beat officers divide their time between villages, support and value Neighbourhood Watch schemes in the area and encourage residents to become involved. The force attended the Annual Parish Meeting in May and encouraged residents to report all crimes instead of shrugging their shoulders, as reporting crime, they were told, assists the police in identifying hot spots and focussing the best use of resources.

New ideas about allocating resources

It's hard to argue with this, but residents may be less happy with the use of other new analytical tools and in particular The Cambridge Harm Index(CHI). The basis of the CHI is that when allocating resources it is not enough to simply do it by reference to the number of crimes in an area. The seriousness of the crimes should also be taken into account.

A research team at Cambridge University looked at ways of assessing relative seriousness and suggested that the starting point should be the National Sentencing Guidelines and the number of days in prison for each offence type. Although in the past Home Secretaries have tended to argue that boots on the ground doesn't prevent crime the researchers concluded that the greater the time police and PCSOs spend patrolling high-crime places, the lower the crime rate. This will come as no surprise to most readers.

The use of tools like the CHI enables forces to focus on areas where the crimes are of a more serious nature and residents may have concerns that this could to a degree lead to a reduction of resources in areas where crimes don't score highly on the scale, even if the lives of residents are made miserable.

How does all this affect Groby?

Locally the force believes that resources need to be rebalanced between the various 'beats' and with no increase to overall numbers on this occasion this is at the expense of the villages served from Market Bosworth.

Despite being urged to report all incidences of crime residents will now wonder whether that advice is based on an outdated version of resource allocation. If that vandalised car or smashed fence is at the bottom end of the harm index in terms of sentencing then some might argue that it will not figure highly when the index is used to allocate resources between areas. On the other hand if every one counts even in a small way towards an aggregate it perhaps is an increased incentive to report all incidents, and the way in which this mapping is being done should be made clear to residents.

So what do the Police say about it?

Inspector Dan Eveleigh explained that in February 2015 major changes were made to how the force operates. Previously local officers would investigate all local reported crime, which meant they had less time for local engagement and problem solving. Now crime investigation is no longer done by local neighbourhood officers and is now done by the Force Investigation Unit, alongside specialist units. He added that this gives local neighbourhood officers more time to focus on community engagement and the issues that matter to local residents such as tackling anti-social behaviour, and is the reason PC Wardle had more time to spend out on the beat.

“Staffing on the beats changes to meet the demands, risks and threats in communities, which can mean moving officers around if there is more of a need for them on another beat, said Inspector Eveleigh. “Alongside this, the number of officers on each beat can be affected by things such as staff promotions, sickness, pregnancies etc. so we have to re-deploy the staff allocated to each Dedicated Neighbourhood Team (DNT) accordingly. We are, like other forces, trying out using the Cambridge Harm Index in our decision making, however this is alongside common sense and professional judgement. Issues such as anti social behaviour do not have a ‘sentence’, but tackling issues of ASB are still high on our agenda as it is an issue that can cause residents a great deal of distress and concern to which we will continue to respond. A whole range of other factors are also taken into account when making judgements about where to allocate resources and he added that the decision to move PC Wardle was done taking all of these factors in to account.

He said that if the situation should change, with the Bosworth beat requiring additional support in the future, the redeployment of officers either temporarily, or permanently, depending on the need would be considered.

It's the funding gap

As ever the availability of resources comes down to funding. Most readers would wish for increased spending on the police, but just as in other areas funding cuts are having to be passed on to Council Tax payers. We've seen it with the direct charges for services like garden waste collection, charges for certain items at recycling plants and indirect charges for keeping community libraries open. And now the cuts mean our police force costs residents more in Council tax but still has less to spend, something that hasn't escaped the notice of Councillor Peter Batty “Our Council Tax for the Police precept was increased at a rate above inflation last year and we are paying ever more for the service and year on year we are getting less for our money," he commented.

Who to call

It's 999 in an emergency or if there is a crime in progress, or 101 in a non emergency or if you would like to speak to a local officer.  You can also email your local beat team through the links on website www.leics.police.uk.