The Treasury Committee has called on the government to commission an independent review into whether the Money Advice Service (MAS) should continue to exist as a statutory organisation.
The inquiry into the MAS was conducted by the Treasury Sub-Committee.
The chairman of the sub-committee, George Mudie MP, said: “The Money Advice Service is not currently fit for purpose. It is far from clear that it has adopted the right strategy or even that it is performing the correct role
“In finalising this report, the Committee considered carefully whether to recommend that the MAS be scrapped completely. Given that the Treasury had already announced its intention to conduct a review of the MAS, we were persuaded to grant a stay of execution.
“We have asked the Government to expedite this review as a matter of urgency. We have also recommended that it should be independent, rather than led by the Treasury.
“The review must assess whether the MAS should continue to exist and, if so, how it can overcome the serious problems laid bare in this report. Its findings should be available for scrutiny by the Treasury Committee and others by the summer of 2014. Only then can a credible, informed decision on the future of the MAS be made.
“We also expect the current management of the MAS to study our report and to tell us how they are going to act on the concerns we have identified.
“People up and down the country, particularly at this time, need access to high quality money and debt advice. If this is to continue to be facilitated by a public body, a radical overhaul is needed.”
