# The Food Crime Officers (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2025, Regulation 51: Special procedure: FSA friend


(1) This regulation applies where the person investigating a complaint or matter has given the person concerned a notice under regulation 50.
(2) The person concerned may choose—
(a) an officer or a member of the FSA’s staff;
(b) an official of a trade union,
who is not otherwise involved in the matter to act as their FSA friend.
(3) An FSA friend may—
(a) advise the person concerned throughout proceedings under these Regulations;
(b) provide any relevant statement or relevant document to the person investigating;
(c) accompany the person concerned to any interview of that person conducted by the person investigating; and
(d) make representations to the Director General concerning any aspect of the proceedings under these Regulations.
(4) Where an FSA friend is an officer or a member of the FSA’s staff, the chief executive must permit the FSA friend to use a reasonable amount of their contractual working time for the purposes mentioned in paragraph (3).

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/301/regulation/51 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/food-crime-officers-complaints-and-misconduct-regulations-2025/regulation-51
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.