The government has announced that statutory arrangements for the provision of free and impartial financial guidance will be examined later this year.
The review of the Money Advice Service and Pension Wise came as the Treasury and Financial Conduct Authority began to examine how to plug the advice gap.
The Mas was quick to defend itself ahead of yet another review into the way it works, with chief executive Caroline Rookes stating any consultation which acted in the interests of the consumer can only be a positive step forward.
She said the recent independent review held into her organisation made it “very clear” that the Mas has a role to play and should continue to work on improving people’s ability to manage their money, as well as increasing access to debt advice.
Since then, Ms Rookes said they have undergone major changes to strategy and way of operating to adapt the way things are done to better meet the needs of consumers.
This work has included significantly reducing marketing spend, funding the delivery of services through other organisations, encouraging use of the evidence hub and filling gaps in need and launching the Retirement Adviser Directory.
Back in March the long-awaited independent review into the Money Advice Service recommended it should avoid duplicating the services offered by other firms and consider using its resources to grant fund initiatives to meet specific gaps in provision.
The review, led by former National Association of Pension Funds chief executive Christine Farnish, steered the Mas more towards working in the debt funding arena and being less focused on advice.
It recommended the service should halve its budget for financial education from a current £43m, which would reduce the amount of levies falling firms.
Suggesting that resources should be directed at advice gap initiatives, the report recommended establishing a “budget for pump priming grants and service commissioning” to encourage development of products that “fill gaps or provide innovative ways of... informing consumers”.
emma.hughes@ft.com
