John Healey

If the hon. Member would write to me or the Economic Secretary, she would be willing to take another look at that. I was not quite certain whether he was saying that Ms Beevers’s cheque was misread by a human or a machine, but it sounds in any case like there is an established error and that some form of redress and recognition is required. If he writes to us with the details, we will certainly take a look at it. Alongside these measures, we are reforming the legal framework governing the Financial Ombudsman Service to improve the consistency and predictability of its decision making. Currently, decisions made by the ombudsman are not required to align with FCA rules. That has the potential to cause, and indeed has caused, delays in redress for consumers. It has caused uncertainty among firms on what standards they should apply. The Bill takes measures to ensure that all decisions taken by the ombudsman apply FCA rules, including the FCA consumer duty. That should deliver a more consistent set of standards across the board, both for firms and for consumers.