Debt advice is funded by a levy on lenders who no longer cause the debt

MaPS-commissioned debt advice is funded by an FCA levy on consumer-credit and mortgage firms (~£78m), yet problem debt has shifted decisively to household bills (energy, water, telecoms, council tax and debts owed to government itself), whose creditors pay nothing toward advice. MaPS funding supports just over a quarter of estimated advice capacity; StepChange and Citizens Advice fundraise for the rest, partly via voluntary 'fair share' payments from banks. Government's own target (3.7m people receiving advice by 2030 vs ~2m now) is unfunded at current levy scope.

Advice demand is at record highs while the funding base is structurally misaligned: the sectors generating today's arrears (utilities and the state) free-ride on a shrinking pool paid by regulated lenders. Every £1 of advice generates measurable returns (MaPS-funded advice boosted client incomes £48m in 2024/25).

Legislate to extend the debt-advice levy to non-FCA creditors (energy, water, telecoms) and add a government contribution proportional to the public sector's share of problem debt: a 'polluter pays' funding statute.

// State-led: Instrument: statute extending debt-advice levy to energy, water, telecoms and government creditors.

Advice demand hits record highs but funded capacity covers barely a quarter, because the levy still falls on lenders, not the utilities and government now generating the arrears.