The economic secretary to the Treasury has promised there will be enough capacity within the Citizens’ Advice network to deal with Pension Wise.
Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom was responding to a question by Labour’s shadow pensions minister Gregg McClymont.
Mr McClymont asked what assessments the Treasury had made of the capacity within the Citizens’ Advice network to deal with Pensions Wise enquiries.
In response, Ms Leadsom said: “Face-to-face sessions are being delivered by Citizens’ Advice England and Wales, Citizens’ Advice Scotland and Citizens’ Advice Northern Ireland.
“These will be offered in selected bureaux across the UK, with the aim of providing good geographic coverage and ensuring the service is accessible across the UK.
“The government is working closely with the three citizens’ advice bodies to ensure that they are appropriately funded and supported to build sufficient capacity in the bureaux network.”
Pension guidance will also be delivered by The Pensions Advisory Service through telephone sessions.
The guidance sessions will be approximately 45 minutes long and will be piloted from this month.
Adviser view
Paul Holiday, director of Norfolk-based Greensky Wealth, said: “A lot of the burden will be shared with the IFA market as well because a lot of people will speak to their advisers if they have one.
“We are not expecting much of a rush because we are keeping our clients well informed, but we may get some new enquiries.”
