"Helping people with retirement should be a main focus for the new body and we’re pleased to see it will cover both occupational and personal pensions."
Launched today, a government consultation outlines how publicly funded debt advice, pensions and money guidance will be brought together into one body.
The new body could also take on a strategic role, working with the charity sector and financial services sector to understand and meet consumer need.
The single financial guidance body will be responsible for debt advice, helping consumers avoid financial fraud and scams, and guidance on occupational or personal pensions, accessing defined contribution pots, and planning for retirement.
Ahead of the new body’s introduction the Money Advice Service, The Pension Advice Service and Pension Wise will continue to operate as normal.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby, said: "We want to help people take charge of their finances, and make the financial decisions that are right for them. This new body will ensure that help is readily available for people who need to access debt advice, information on their pensions or guidance on other money matters.
Minister for Pensions, Richard Harrington, commented: "We want to ensure that everyone has access to high quality and impartial financial guidance, to help them make the most of their hard earned savings.
"This new single body will be a place people can go for free, impartial financial guidance, and I look forward to hearing people’s views on our proposals."
Philip Brown, Head of Policy at LV=, added: “It’s vital that people have access to high quality, impartial guidance to help them with important financial decisions and this is a golden opportunity to ensure consumers have this support.
“Following the vast number of pension reforms in recent years, helping people with retirement should be a main focus for the new body and we’re pleased to see it will cover both occupational and personal pensions. We want much better promotion of guidance as the key starting point for people approaching retirement, and the pensions information the new service provides to be accessible to everyone - whether they are about to draw their pension or just starting to save.
“We also believe the new body should include a dispute resolution service – like the one currently offered by The Pensions Advisory Service – as well as retaining the Money Advice Service comparison tables, as this is the only truly impartial comparison service available for consumers.”
