Consultations & legislation
Clarifying debt advice as part of the consumer financial education function of the Money Advice Service
Issued: 02 December 2011
Open date: 02 December 2011
Close date: 06 January 2012
Background
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills and HM Treasury jointly published in July 2011 Consumer credit and personal insolvency review: summary of responses on consumer credit and formal response on personal insolvency. In this, the Government announced that the Money Advice Service has agreed to take on responsibility for the provision and coordination of debt advice, with the aim of offering a coordinated, flexible and cost-effective solution to consumers’ debt advice needs from 2012-13 onwards.
The Money Advice Service (referred to as the Consumer Financial Education Body in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) has a statutory function to enhance the understanding and knowledge of members of the public of financial matters, and their ability to manage their own financial affairs (“the consumer financial education function”). Section 6A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 sets out this function. Paragraph (2) of this section specifies a non-exhaustive list of activities that are included in the function.
The Government today publishes an informal consultation on the proposal to clarify, as part of the forthcoming Financial Services Bill, the provision and coordination of debt advice as part of this list of activities which are included in the consumer financial education function of the Money Advice Service.
Consultation
The informal consultation document is a letter seeking views on this proposal. The Government believes this clarification should be made in order to reflect the importance of debt advice as part of the Money Advice Service’s activities.
Informal consultation document
This consultation document is available in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website.
For alternative ways to read PDF documents and further information on website accessibility visit the HM Treasury accessibility page.
Related links
Contact details
Representations by email are preferable, and should be sent to:
Email address: consultationresponse-MAS@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk
Hard copy responses should be sent to:
Consultation Response- MAS, Insurance and Savings
3/20 HM Treasury
1 Horse Guards Road
London
SW1A 2HQ
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