Money Advice Service inquiry: terms of reference

All written evidence should be submitted to the Clerk of the Treasury Committee at House of Commons, 7 Millbank, SW1P 3JA or to treascom@parliament.uk by Friday 1 June, 2012.

Terms of reference

• To what extent is the Money Advice Service (MAS) meeting its core statutory objectives:

1. to enhance the understanding and knowledge of members of the public of financial matters (including the UK financial system), and
2. to enhance the ability of members of the public to manage their own financial affairs?

• Are these the right objectives for MAS to have?
• How effective is the MAS’s internal administration and expenditure on staff and other resources?
• What accountability mechanisms are in place for the MAS? Are they sufficient? How can the effectiveness of the MAS be assessed?
• To what extent are the services provided by the MAS also provided by other organisations? How does the MAS compare to these organisations?
• Is the MAS reaching its target audience? Are any groups unable to access the MAS’s services? Who is worst affected by a lack of knowledge of financial matters? Should the MAS have a greater role in financial education in schools?
• How appropriate is the model, using fees raised from financial services firms regulated by the FSA, by which the MAS is funded?

Notes on submission of written evidence

Written evidence should be in Word or rich text format—NOT PDF format—and sent by e-mail to treascom@parliament.uk. The body of the e-mail must include a contact name, telephone number and postal address. The e-mail should also make clear who the submission is from. The deadline is Friday 1 June 2012. Submissions should be no longer than 3000 words. Submissions should be in the format of a self-contained memorandum. Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference, and the document must include an executive summary. View further guidance on the submission of evidence.

Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere. Once submitted, your submission becomes the property of the Committee and no public use should be made of it unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee. Please bear in mind that Committees are not able to investigate individual cases.

The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to publish the written evidence it receives, either by printing the evidence, publishing it on the internet or by making it publicly available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure; the Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

For data protection purposes, it would be helpful if individuals wishing to submit written evidence send their contact details in a covering letter. You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the House of Commons will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.