Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of appointing a senior minister with responsibility for financial wellbeing.

The Government aims to ensure that people across the UK have good financial wellbeing. It does this by supporting individuals’ financial capability so they can access the guidance they need and develop the skills and confidence to successfully manage their finances. It is also a priority for the Government to promote financial inclusion and ensure that consumers can access useful and affordable financial products and services, which also contributes to having a positive financial wellbeing.

Within Government, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury has policy responsibility for the financial inclusion, financial education, financial advice, money guidance and debt advice. The Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion holds responsibility for pensions and pensions guidance. The Economy Secretary and the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion also co-chair the Government’s Financial Inclusion Policy Forum, which brings together leaders on financial inclusion to ensure collaboration between government and the sector.

Money and pensions guidance is delivered through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), an arms-length body of the Department of Work and Pensions. MaPS was established in January 2019, merging the three former organisations providing free-to-use financial guidance to simplify the existing public financial guidance landscape and offer more holistic support to consumers. MaPS also has a statutory function to develop and coordinate the UK’s strategy on financial capability and as such recently published its “National Financial Wellbeing Strategy”, which sets out goals to improve the UK’s financial wellbeing over the next ten years.