Guidance Guarantee Implementation

Monday 20th October 2014 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)]

Today the Government are pleased to announce that they are making excellent progress in implementing the guidance guarantee, and are on track to get the guidance service up and running in good time for April 2015. The Government have therefore:

Announced that online guidance will be available on https://www.gov.uk; face-to-face guidance will be provided by Citizens Advice, Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizens Advice Northern Ireland; and telephone guidance by The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS); and

Confirmed that they will bring forward legislation to underpin implementation of the guidance guarantee, including the legislative framework for the Financial Conduct Authority’s standards regime for the guidance service.

The Government have been clear that in order to deliver the guidance they must build on trusted, independent consumer advice services. That is why the Government are pleased to announce that TPAS and Citizens Advice (England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) will be delivery partners in the guidance service.

This week the Government will bring forward amendments to the Pensions Schemes Bill that will underpin the implementation of the pensions guidance guarantee as announced at Budget 2014.