The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has appointed two non-executive directors to the board of the new single financial guidance body (SFGB), which will provide guidance on money and pensions
The arm’s-length government department, which is to be launched next year, will replace the three existing government advice bodies.
The SFGB will bring together the services currently delivered by the Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise with the aim of providing a more streamlined service to the public and making it easier to access information.
DWP has announced that Ann Harris, who is chair of the Pensions Advisory Service, and Mike Dailly, a non-executive director of the Money Advice Service, will be appointed to the SFGB for a period of two years.
They will take up post when the body comes into existence, expected to be on 1 October 2018, and will also remain in their current roles.
Sir Hector Sants, SFGB chair, said: ‘The organisation intends to ensure it builds on the successes to date, and absorbs the lessons of the past. To best achieve this, a degree of continuity is vital and I am delighted that Mike Dailly and Ann Harris have agreed to join the board and look forward to working with them.’
Dailly is a solicitor advocate, who acts exclusively for consumers, a member of the European Banking Authority’s expert group and the director of the Govan Law Centre in Glasgow. He was previously a member of the Financial Conduct Authority’s financial services consumer panel from 2009 to 2015.
Harris is the chair and a non-executive director of the Pensions Advisory Service, following a 40 year career in the civil service, latterly holding senior roles in finance and programme management.
The SFGB’s official launch is slated for January 2019 when the body takes on its delivery functions and staff will transfer to the new organisation.
It will have five core functions: pensions guidance; money guidance; debt advice; consumer protection; and a strategic function to help develop a national strategy to improve the financial capability of members of the public. The body will also provide advice on establishment of a debt respite scheme.
DWP says it expects to appoint further non-executive directors following an open recruitment exercise which is running at the moment.
SFGB’s non-executive board members are entitled to an annual remuneration of £15,000 a year for approximately 30 days commitment.
Report by Pat Sweet
