The Money Advice Service (MAS), an organisation that provides free money advice for consumers in the UK, has slashed its total budget by 1% from £78.3 million in 2013/14 to £77.5 million in 2014/15.
Ignoring calls by MPs to cut its marketing budget, MAS said it would keep its marketing budget at £12.68 million that will be spent on a range of activity, from campaigns to digital marketing.
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The MAS has also outlined plans to reach 15 million contacts with consumers next year, a third of which will result in them taking action.
MAS chief executive Caroline Rookes told IFAonline: "An organisation like ours will always have to spend money on marketing and our money is moving away from raising awareness to providing advice and information. More and more we will be using our marketing to get advice across within the message."
The service is now consulting on its plan until 14 February 2014, prior to final approval by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in March 2014. The final Business Plan will be published in March 2014.
Last month, the National Audit Office slammed the money advice part of MAS as not value for money.
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By GlobalDataThe organisation also came under fierce attack from the Treasury select sub-committee who said it is "not fit for purpose".
Next year the MAS plans to spend £43 million on money advice services and £34.5 million on debt advice, compared to £43.8 million and £34.5 million last year.
