The government has proposed to include the provision and coordination of debt advice as one of the official statutory duties of the Money Advice Service (MAS).
In July, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Treasury announced the MAS had agreed to become responsible for the provision and coordination of debt advice from 2012/13 onwards.
In an informal consultation published today, the government proposed to clarify the debt advice duty as one of MAS’ consumer financial education functions.
This clarification would form part of the Financial Services Bill.
“The government believes this clarification should be made in order to reflect the importance of debt advice as part of the MAS’ activities,” the Treasury statement said.
