Asked by: Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each year since 2010, what assessment they have made of the percentage of clients who, once they have received debt management advice and successfully proceeded to implementation, have required further debt management advice in the same financial year.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
These questions have been passed on to the Money Advice Service (MAS). MAS will reply to directly to the Noble Lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of clients who had received debt management advice who successfully proceeded to the implementation of their chosen solution in each year since 2010.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
These questions have been passed on to the Money Advice Service (MAS). MAS will reply to directly to the Noble Lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which debt management advice takes into account non-financial circumstances of an individual client, and what guidance they issue to those providing such advice about taking those circumstances into account.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
These questions have been passed on to the Money Advice Service (MAS). MAS will reply to directly to the Noble Lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) how many people have sought debt management advice in each year since 2010, and (2) how many of those were already in debt.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
These questions have been passed on to the Money Advice Service (MAS). MAS will reply to directly to the Noble Lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Financial Conduct Authority’s thematic review <i>Quality of debt management advice</i>.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government is concerned about problems in the debt management market, including the quality of advice which was highlighted by the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) thematic review.
This is why we reformed debt management regulation, transferring responsibility to the FCA’s more robust regime to better protect consumers. The FCA has put in place binding standards on firms and has a strong enforcement toolkit to take action against firms if these rules are broken.
The FCA is currently scrutinising debt management firms as part of its authorisation process. Firms which do not meet the required standards will not be able to continue to provide debt management services.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on public sector and charitable provision of consumer debt advice services.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Money Advice Service (MAS) is responsible for the coordination of publicly funded free to client debt advice. MAS is financed by a levy on the financial services industry. MAS is currently consulting on its business plan; it has proposed levying for a constant budget for debt advice for 2016/17 providing around £45 million to its third sector partners for the provision of debt advice.
More broadly the Government is currently reviewing how the public provision of free-to-client, impartial financial guidance, including consumer debt advice services, should be structured to give consumers the information they need to make financial decisions. The Public Financial Guidance consultation closed in December 2015 and the Government will report back by budget.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targets his Department has for the granting, rejection and withdrawal of consumer credit licences for debt advice and debt adjusting on a commercial basis.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
These questions have been passed on to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA will reply to directly to the Honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications for consumer credit licences for debt advice and debt adjusting on a commercial basis have been made in the last 12 months; and how many such applications have been (a) granted, (b) rejected, (c) withdrawn and (d) await a decision.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
These questions have been passed on to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA will reply to directly to the Honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on the commercial provision of consumer debt advice services.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Government is very concerned about evidence of consumer detriment in the debt management market. That is why we have given the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) robust powers to protect borrowers using debt management firms.
For profit debt management plan providers, operating with consumers’ interest at heart and in full compliance with regulatory requirements, can help provide a wider supply of solutions and products for consumers, and help them get in control of problem debts. The Government’s focus has therefore been on comprehensively reforming regulation of this sector, and ensuring firms act in customers’ best interests.
The FCA is currently scrutinising debt management firms as part of its authorisation process. Firms which do not meet the required standards will not be able to continue to provide debt management services.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further plans they have to support charities and other organisations that seek to help people in financial difficulty.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committing to supporting charities working with the vulnerable and disadvantaged, including those supporting people in financial difficulty.
For example, Cabinet Office has contributed over £32 million towards the Big Lottery Fund’s Advice Service Transition Fund. This fund is supporting many not-for-profit advice providers working with individuals in financial difficulty. We have also convened an Affordable Lending Steering Group, working to address the barriers that limit community lenders’ ability to provide services to those in need.