A review of the Money Advice Service should be considering its abolition and will fail to address serious concerns by not doing so, the chairman of the Treasury Committee has told the Chancellor.

In letters to George Osborne, which have just been published for the first time, chairman Andrew Tyrie MP, attacked the scope of the investigation into the MAS.
His committee has been heavily critical of the organisation, branding it unfit for purpose. Mr Tyrie lambasted the initial naming of MAS as one of the key delivery partners of the new pensions guidance service.
The MAS is still involved advising the Treasury but the Citizens Advice Bureau was given the main guidance role alongside the Pensions Advisory Service.
Mr Tyrie told Mr Osborne in a July letter: "As you know, the committee's report on the MAS raised serious concerns about its ability to perform its functions and made clear that we had given careful consideration to recommending the abolition of the MAS.

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"The question of whether the MAS should continue to exist as a statutory organisation was the central question to be answered by the independent review that we recommended."
He told the Chancellor it was "concerning" to see the review will not look at this. He reiterated the committee recommendation that the review consider if the FCA needs additional statutory powers to hold the MAS to account, if the FCA should be given powers to intervene on operational matters and scrutinise the budget.
Mr Tyrie said: "The review is therefore unlikely to be able to address and resolve the serious concerns that the committee has about the MAS."
Mr Osborne wrote: "You ask why the independent review has not been explicitly asked to consider the future existence of MAS. The review's central task is making an assessment of what consumers need in terms of financial education and advice.
"What consumers need... has evolved considerably in the years since MAS was established and continues to change. It is important to set realistic and achievable goals for the review.
"There is significant scope for the review to recommend substantive changes and improvements as it sees fit."

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