MaPS reveals 21% real terms cut to grants for debt advice compared to 2019/20

Responding to a recent Freedom of Information request from WADA, the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has revealed that grants for debt advice services in England are facing a cut of over 20% in real terms.

The MaPS response (here) shows that the budget for regional services in England last year was £32.9 million, but that this will be reduced to just £30 million - an 8% cut in nominal terms - next year. This makes no sense when demand for community based services is rising, and more households are in need of support as the cost-of-living crisis deepens.

However, in real terms the cuts to grant funding are much worse. In the first year of its operations - 2019/20 - MaPS spent nearly £31.5 million on community-based debt advice. Allowing for inflation since then, maintaining that level of support would require a budget today of £36.3 million. Next year’s budget falls 21% short of this figure.

The revelation of the depth of the funding cuts to regional services comes ahead of MaPS’ launch of a new consultation on its debt advice commissioning strategy tomorrow.