'Service to fall short in promise for face to face guidance for all'

The new pensions service will "fall significantly short of the promise of face to face guidance for all" due to the lack of centres providing it, an expert has warned. The Citizens Advice Bureau announced yesterday that 44 centres in England and Wales would offer the in-person part of the guidance for the Pension Wise scheme.Claire Trott, head of technical support at Talbot and Muir, said this was flawed – largely due to the distances involved for many to travel.She said: "The list provided by the CAB of the branches that will provide face to face guidance falls significantly short of the promise of face to face guidance for all, as initially announced in the Budget. "There are large parts of the country where someone would need to travel over an hour for a face to face meeting.{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}"When discussing retirement income, seeing someone in the flesh can be very important."There are significant complexities that will be difficult for a lay person to explain to the person on the other end of the phone. They may not know what they are looking at or looking for."In order for Pension Wise to be a success it should be more widely available to all, those with low incomes will not be willing to make the trek to see someone and they are likely to need to most guidance."The bureau told Financial Planner Online that the 44 locations are the "core centres" but each has what it called 'outreach points' or sub-centres. A number of these will assist the main centres, officials said, though they could not say how many or where these would be while discussions with the Treasury were on going.The bureau said: "Citizens Advice is working with the Treasury to make sure as many people as possible can easily access a face to face Pension wise session."To maximise coverage the charity is expected to announce a small number of extra delivery centres soon."Each delivery centre will have "between three and seven paid members of highly trained staff providing pensions guidance".In a statement, it said: "People will be able to go into any Citizens Advice Bureau to find out about the Pension Wise service, whether they're eligible and be referred to book in with the nearest delivery centre."People will also be able to access guidance and information over the phone from The Pensions Advisory Service and online through the Pensions Wise website."The first delivery centres are:East MidlandsDerbyshire DistrictsLincoln and DistrictLeicestershireEast of EnglandPeterboroughCentral and East NorthamptonshireStevenageDiss, Thetford and DistrictLondonMerton and LambethEast EndSutton BoroughNorth EastNorth TynesideDarlingtonNorth WestCheshire WestManchesterNorth LiverpoolAllerdaleLancashire WestSouth EastRushmoorWest OxonHastings and Rother 1066High WycombeArun and ChichesterBournemouthMaidstoneSouth WestPlymouthTauntonCornwallWiltshireWest MidlandsStaffordshire SouthwestWolverhamptonShropshireCoventryWorcester and WHABACYorkshire and HumberHull and East RidingSheffieldLeedsHambelton and RichmondshireWalesPowysCardiff and ValeCaerphillyDenbighshireYnys MonPembrokeshireCeredigion

'Service to fall short in promise for face to face guidance for all'

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