Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the availability of affordable advice for savers wishing to exercise their new pension freedoms.

Pension Wise provides free and impartial guidance on what consumers can do with their pension pots, helping them make a decision which best suits their personal circumstances. The guidance encourages customers to think about how they can best provide for themselves in the future, and prompts them to think about how long their money needs to last.

As part of this, Pension Wise helps people understand when professional financial advice could be useful and how to access it by referring them to the Money Advice Service’s new Retirement Advisor Directory. The Directory helps people find a local advisor which serves their pot size, can provide a specialist type of retirement advice service, and displays information on whether they charge a minimum fee.

The government believes that it is vital that consumers should have access to professional financial advice if they need it, and supports the work of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to encourage the development of affordable models of advice to help service this need.