Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with the Money and Pensions Service over the decision on recommissioning of new contracts for local debt advice services in (a) the North East, (b) North West and (c) Midlands; what his timeframe is for agreeing new contracts for those debt advice services; and what assessment he has made of the impact on local communities of the non availability of those services.

The Government and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) are committed to creating a more resilient debt advice sector, which will drive better quality of advice and customer outcomes over the longer term.

As per their update of 17 December 2021, MaPS have evaluated the bids for the regional lot and concluded that the services being offered through submissions would not represent value for money or adequately meet the need of people in vulnerable circumstances. Over the coming months, MaPS intends to work closely with stakeholders to identify the best ways to deliver locally based debt advice provision in England and how best to procure these services on a longer-term basis. MaPS will provide more details on how they intend to carry out this engagement in the coming months.