The FCA is to consolidate its complaints returns in a move which it claims will ease unnecessary red tape burdens on firms.

In a consultation paper launched today, CF25/13: Improving the complaints reporting process, the FCA said it would consolidate five current returns into one.

The regulator will also “standardise” the number of times it asks regulated firms to send their data returns so that the timing of its requests is more predictable.

The watchdog said this would help firms to plan more effectively, as well as helping the FCA process information more consistently and make more effective use of its resources.

Sarah Pritchard, executive director for supervision, policy and competition at the FCA, said: “Streamlining the complaints data reporting process will ease unnecessary burdens on firms and strengthen our commitment to smarter, more effective regulation. These proposals will also help us collect better quality data on complaints received by firms which will help us spot and respond more quickly to harm as it arises.”

The FCA said today's proposals were part of its 5-year strategy to become a smarter regulator.

It has collected complaints data from regulated firms since 2002. It uses the data to help understand market trends, identify current or emerging harms to customers and to improve its understanding of consumer complaint outcomes.

The regulator has not conducted a full review of its complaints data collection since 2015.

Firms have until 24 July to respond to the FCA’s proposals.