Our quality framework comprises of two interlinked and essential parts – the ‘organisational’ quality framework and the ‘individual’ quality framework, which together, form our approach to ensuring the high quality of debt advice services in both the free-to-client and fee-charging sectors.
The framework provides a single, transparent and consistent mechanism which enables quality standards, membership codes, training and qualifications currently used in the debt advice sector to be assessed against the requirements of the framework and achieve accreditation from the Money and Pensions Service. This will ensure that both an organisation and its individual advisers are delivering consistent and high quality debt advice.
Read the MaPS Debt Advice Quality Framework in full.
Accreditation of Standards and Membership Codes
Quality standards and membership codes used in the debt advice sector can be submitted for accreditation to an independent external organisation who will undertake an assessment against our quality framework. Those that evidence successfully that they fully meet all of the criteria will achieve accreditation. The main quality areas that standards and membership codes are required to evidence are:
- Ensuring client needs are understood and met
- Having strong governance arrangements in place
- Reviewing, learning and adapting where required, the services that they provide to clients
We began to accredit standards and membership codes in January 2014. At present, the following quality standards and membership codes have been awarded full three year accreditation:
- Advice Quality Standard (Advice Services Alliance)
- National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux Membership Scheme
- The matrix Standard (incorporating the Money and Pensions Service Organisation Framework)
- Lexcel England and Wales v6 incorporating the Money and Pensions Service Quality Framework (MaPS QF)
- Community Money Advice (CMA) Debt Advice Centre Code of Practice