Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations of the 2016 Financial Advice Market Review.

The Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR) final report was published in March 2016, setting out a package of 28 recommendations, which HM Treasury and the FCA have since implemented.

Key pieces of work taken forward as a response to the FAMR recommendations include clarifying the definition of financial advice and introducing the Pension Advice Allowance to allow consumers to withdraw £500 from their pension pots to pay for advice.

In December 2020, the FCA published an evaluation of the 2016 FAMR. This showed that the financial advice market was moving in the right direction, with more people accessing financial advice. However, there are still some remaining policy challenges to help the market work better for consumers, including around helping consumers make better investment decisions.

As part of the Edinburgh Reforms, the Chancellor committed to working with the FCA to examine the boundary between regulated financial advice and financial guidance, with the objective of improving access to helpful advice, support and information, while maintaining strong protections for consumers.