The Welsh National Assembly’s Communities and Culture Committee has begun an inquiry into Financial Inclusion and Financial Education in Wales and is calling for the public’s help.

The committee wants to find out whether people of all ages in communities across Wales feel they have the opportunities to gain the knowledge and confidence necessary to make informed decisions on budgeting, borrowing and financial products.

This includes identifying any gaps in the provision of financial education and pulling out examples of good practice that could be replicated across Wales.

Committee Chair Sandy Mewies AM said: “This is an important inquiry that I hope will give us valuable insight into how effective financial education is in Wales, and whether people feel well informed and able to make decisions of a financial nature.

“Effective financial education is a must in Wales if we are to help maximise individuals’ incomes, minimise outgoings and therefore minimise debt, and the committee invites anyone with knowledge in this field to submit evidence to this important inquiry.”

Interested parties are invited to email written evidence based on the questions below to culture.committee@wales.gsi.gov.uk by no later than Friday May 7 2010.

Alternatively, you can post your evidence to Clerk of the Committee, Communities and Culture Committee, the National Assembly for Wales, Pierhead Street, Cardiff Bay, CF99 1NA.

Please indicate in your paper whether you would be interested in presenting your views to the Committee in person and provide us with some information about yourself, or your organisation, before setting out your views and experiences in relation to some or all of the following areas:

What we’d like from you – consultation questions

1. What opportunities do people in Wales to currently have to gain and develop the skills, knowledge and confidence necessary to make informed decisions on budgeting, borrowing and financial products?   Are there any examples of good practice in the provision of financial education that could be replicated across Wales?
2. To what extent is the provision of financial education currently appropriate to individuals’ needs and circumstances?
3. What gaps and challenges currently exist in the provision of financial education, and how can these be addressed?
4. What do you consider to be the appropriate roles of the statutory, private and third sectors in providing and promoting financial education within communities?  How can organisations within these different sectors most effectively work collectively?  Is there a need for the Welsh Government, or Local Government to strategically co-ordinate such efforts?
5. What, if any, role should credit unions have in increasing financial capability and the provision of financial education?  Are they effective at this?
6. In what ways can effective financial education help maximise income, minimise outgoings and therefore ultimately minimise debt?
7. Can financial education reduce the reliance within some communities on doorstep money lenders (including both legal and illegal lenders) charging high interest rates?
8. What would you like to see change to make it easier to monitor the effectiveness of financial education and levels of financial capability throughout Wales?
9. Are there any further comments you’d like to make about financial capability or the provision of financial education to people of all ages throughout Wales?