Martin Lewis and Schools Minister quizzed on financial education by MPs

Evidence session    

Financial education

Tuesday 5 March, 10:00, Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster    

Watch live on parliamentlive.tv  

MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis and Schools Minister Damian Hinds will be questioned by the Education Committee as it concludes its inquiry on expanding financial education in schools.

Mr Lewis will appear alongside Russell Winnard of Young Enterprise, a charity which developed a financial education textbook with Mr Lewis.

They will be questioned on the training and resources available to schools for providing financial education; the impact that covid-19 and cost-of-living pressures have had on young people’s perceptions of money; and whether external organisations should have a role in delivering financial education in schools.

The cross-party Committee will be interested in Mr Lewis and Mr Winnard’s views on how best to engage youngsters in the subject, including children at primary school level. 

In the second panel, Minister Damian Hinds and a senior Department for Education official will be asked how financial education can be extended at primary school and post-16 level, and what the Department is doing to ensure the subject is prioritised and protected.

They will also be questioned on the state of financial education in the schools and post-16 sector, which previous witnesses in the inquiry have labelled “dismal” and “inconsistent”.

MPs will ask the Minister how the subject should best be expanded and delivered in primary and secondary levels, either through PSHE, Citizenship or Maths, and whether its statutory status should be extended

There may also be questions about whether England should participate in the PISA financial literacy assessments, and how Ofsted should go about judging schools on the quality of their financial education.

Witnesses from 10:00    

• Martin Lewis, broadcaster and founder, moneysavingexpert.com

• Russell Winnard, Chief Operating Officer, Young Enterprise

From 11:00   

• Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, Minister of State for Schools, Department for Education

• Kate Dixon, Director of Pupil Wellbeing and Safety, Department for Education