| answer text |
<p>The Government recognises that some people are struggling with their personal finances
as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold. The Government is committed
to helping people access the support they need to get their finances back on track.
This is why it has agreed to maintain record levels of debt advice funding for the
Money and Pension Service (MaPS) in 2021/22, bringing the budget for free debt advice
in England to £94.6 million, an increase of over 70% compared to 2019/20 levels.</p><p>Support
from MaPS is available to all online, and the website includes a debt advice locator
tool to help people find local free advice services. MaPS also launched a Money Navigator
Tool last year, promoted via various channels, which helps people navigate their finances
during the pandemic and avoid financial issues worsening in future.</p><p>To ensure
that people are signposted to the help they need, MaPS services are referenced in
the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) guidance, which is issued to all financial
services lenders regulated by the FCA. Further, MaPS-funded free-to-client debt advice
service providers have been pro-actively reaching out to customers during the pandemic,
including by using video-calls and webchat to offer broader ways for clients to engage.</p><p>In
addition, the MaPS-led Pilot of Adviser Capacity and Efficiency (PACE) was launched
in March 2019, offering a new route into debt advice. This pro-actively engages people
by working closely with creditors, who introduce those who are missing payments to
the service and promote the benefits of seeking help. In addition to creditor referrals,
MaPS launched a self-referral route into PACE in November 2019 to engage with customers
directly. The pilot’s evaluation is ongoing, and MaPS will move successful elements
of the work to full-scale from this Autumn.</p>
|
|
