Originally set up as the Consumer Financial Education Body in 2010, the service has attracted significant criticism over the past year, with a parliamentary committee currently looking into its future.
Its total budget for the current financial year is £80.8m, with £46.3m spent on money advice and the remainder on debt advice.
Responding to a written question from Democratic Unionist MP Gregory Campbell, financial secretary Mark Hoban explained how the MAS will come under the microscope again next year.
He said: “Lord Turner, chairman of the FSA, has made it clear that the FSA intends to commission an independent review into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of MAS’s use of public resources in the first half of next year.”
The service’s memorandum of understanding with Financial Conduct Authority, one of successors to the FSA, explains the provisions for a review.
It says the regulator has the power to appoint an “independent person to conduct reviews into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the Money Advice Service’s use of its resources when carrying out its statutory function”.
Although Hoban’s answer mentioned the use of public resources, the MAS is in fact largely funded by the industry itself with IFA firms paying £147.11 per adviser this year.
Earlier this month, Tony Hobman, chief executive of the MAS, announced his departure from the organisation, although he will continue to work during a six-month notice period.
The MAS is aiming to find a successor by the autumn.
