John Withington, a former Senior Ombudsman with experience in leading dispute resolution, engaging with business and representative groups and creating policy around fairness for consumers, has been appointed as the new Director of Regulation for the Independent Funeral Standards Organisation (IFSO).
Mr Withington brings substantial experience in senior leadership roles in the legal and financial sectors to the role and a strong record of success in regulation, strategic planning, transformation and operational design and delivery. He most recently spent seven years as a Senior Ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service, leading the resolution of consumer insurance disputes and working with insurers and representative groups to drive up standards of service to consumers but also has experience in the offender management sector and the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Reflecting on his appointment, John said: “My background is largely in regulation and, specifically, in improving standards of professional services, but I have personal experience, too, that has drawn me to this role. After the death of my father, we couldn’t recover his ashes as the company we’d used for the funeral closed their doors and disappeared. Like many, I think, I’d assumed that the funeral services sector was regulated, but soon discovered there was little we could do. The company hadn’t been a member of a trade association either.
“I think that there’s an inherent trust that we feel towards funeral firms, who we rely on for the most intimate and personal of services. That’s a great start but, of course, can also mean that users can be less engaged than they should be at a time of potential vulnerability.
“All of my previous roles have involved me in raising the standards of services delivered to people in some of the most challenging times of their lives and working closely with service providers, and their representative bodies, to identify opportunities to improve the users’ experiences. I will be looking to design and deliver the most effective, balanced and proportionate model for guidance and support of an industry, but with the power to intervene when circumstances necessitate it. The best form of regulation is self-regulation and I want to lead an organisation that seeks to facilitate rather than intervene.
“While putting in place an appropriate and effective regulatory structure for IFSO’s work with member organisations will be our starting point, there’ll also be a lot of work to be done with others – not least with government – to shape the future months and years. I hope that we can forge a path for effective support of the industry which will become an exemplar of good practice and allow us to play a key role in the ongoing challenge of future successful regulation of the funeral sector.”
Independent Chair of IFSO, the Rt. Hon David Heath CBE, added: “IFSO is very fortunate to have secured the appointment of a Director of Regulation with the experience and quality of John Withington. He brings to the role his knowledge of regulation at a high level, a capacity to clearly understand and articulate the interests of the customer and the general public, and the ability to communicate why having high and consistent standards for funeral directors across the country is so important.
“I very much look forward to working with him, as we move forward to making IFSO an organisation in which both people working in the sector and those outside can have confidence.”