Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he made of demand for face to face debt advice when recommissioning the debt advice service of the Money and Pensions Service.

The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) assesses debt advice demand and makes decisions about advice provision. MaPS’s statutory responsibilities include the need to consider the most vulnerable in its decision-making.

The Government cannot comment in detail on an ongoing commercial tendering process. However, the MaPS-led recommissioning exercise is expected to materially increase the amount of debt advice available to people in England, and ensure services – including face-to-face provision – are built around customers’ needs. The exercise is an important step towards a more resilient debt advice sector and will drive better quality of advice and customer outcomes over the longer term.