A super-complaint is a complaint made in the UK by a state-approved "super-complainant"/watchdog organisation on behalf of consumers, which was fast-tracked to a higher authority such as the Office of Fair Trading (prior to its dissolution on 1 April 2014). The official body now in charge of general consumer protection super-complaints is the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-com ...

. A super-complaint, as defined in section 11(1) of the UK's Enterprise Act 2002, is a complaint submitted by a designated consumer body that "any feature, or combination of features, of a market in the UK for goods or services is or appears to be significantly harming the interests of consumers". Some of the super-complainants under the Office of Fair Trading scheme were: * ''

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'' *

National Consumer Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

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* Consumer Council for Water (formerly known as Watervoice) *

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* Campaign for Real Ale *

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'' magazine also applied, but was rejected. Super-complaints have also specifically been introduced for the financial markets in the UK under the aegis of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) provides that certain consumer bodies may complain to the FCA about features of a market for financial services in the UK that may be significantly damaging the interests of consumers. The Government first issued guidance for bodies seeking designation as super complainants and then received and ultimately approved the newly appointed bodies which can make super-complaints to the FCA: the

, the

Federation of Small Businesses The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is a UK business organisation representing small and medium-sized businesses. It was formed in 1974 as the National Federation of Self Employed (NFSE). The current name for the organisation was adopted in ...

, and ''

''. In December 2018, a super-complaint was made against the police forces of England and Wales on behalf of victims and witnesses of crime who had had their data secretly shared with immigration authorities.

References

Law of the United Kingdom {{UK-law-stub

See also

References