Appendix 3: Complaints procedure
1. PSAA is responsible for monitoring the performance of the Firms within its audit regime, but the Firms themselves remain responsible for the work and behaviour of their staff.
2. Firms must report complaints to PSAA as they progress through all stages of the Firms’ complaints policy.
3. Each Firm will have its own complaints process and complaints about auditors should be dealt with under those processes, independently of PSAA. Therefore, as and when PSAA receives a complaint that has not already been investigated by the relevant Firm, the complainant will be directed to the relevant Firm’s Contact Partner (the key contact point for the contract).
4. The Firm should progress the complaint through all stages of the Firm’s own complaints process, until either satisfactory resolution, or the Firm is unable to resolve matters.
5. If the Firm is unable to resolve matters, it should refer the complainant to PSAA.
6. Because appointed auditors are statutorily independent of PSAA, PSAA cannot:
- Interfere with an appointed auditor’s exercise of their professional skills and judgements in performing their statutory functions.
- Substitute its own judgements for those of an appointed auditor in the exercise of those functions.
- Direct an appointed auditor to act or to review their decisions, as only the courts have the powers to do so.
7. PSAA will therefore not consider complaints about:
- The judgements and decisions of auditors.
- The processes followed by auditors of local authorities who are exercising their specific powers in relation to electors’ objections to items in a council’s accounts, as this is a matter for the courts. This extends not just to decisions about matters of substance, but also to the process by which those decisions are made.
8. PSAA will consider complaints about auditors which relate to a failure in service or maladministration.
9. The definition of maladministration is very wide, and can include:
- Failure to follow proper procedures.
- Discourtesy and rudeness.
- Discrimination.
- Delays.
- Not informing someone of their rights and entitlements.
- Not responding to phone calls, emails or letters.
- Not providing answers to reasonable questions.
- Not answering complaints fully and promptly.
- Failure to recognise and rectify mistakes.
- Failure to comply with standards.
10. PSAA will not consider any complaint that relates to ongoing audit investigations, until these have been concluded.
11. If PSAA receives a complaint that is partially or fully outside of its remit, wherever possible it will inform the complainant of the appropriate recipient.