Financial Skills for Life is a national financial capability programme for Citizens Advice Scotland funded by Prudential.
The purpose of the programme is to support bureaux and their partners to deliver financial inclusion initiatives throughout Scotland.
Current activities within the programme include:
Energy Best Deal
This campaign is designed to help consumers save money by finding the best energy deal for them, whether this means changing supplier, changing tarriff or getting help with energy efficiency measures.
Energy Best Deal+
This pilot programme aims to support people who are either in, or at risk of, fuel poverty. They will be able to come to one of the participating CAB, where their advisers will call their energy suppliers directly to guarantee them access to all the benefits, savings and support they are entitled to. This work is funded by the "Big Six" energy suppliers, with support from the Scottish Government and Energy Saving Trust.
Energy Best Deal Extra
Through this programme participating bureaux will proactively offer one to one appointments with an adviser to everyone who attends an Energy Best Deal group session.
SSE Utilities Project
Funded by Scottish and Southern Energy, this project aims to provide debt, benefits and energy advice to people in fuel poverty or in a fuel poverty risk group to help them improve their overall financial situation.
Barclays Money Skills 'champions'
This innovative peer education project is designed to build the financial knowledge and capability of up to 5,000 young people aged 16-24, and equip them with the skills to share this information with their peer group. The overall aim is to reach 100,000 young people not in employment, education or training through this peer education model. See the BMSC website for more information.
Prudential Guide for Parliamentarians
Thanks to funding from Prudential plc, Citizens Advice Scotland have produced a guide for all Parliamentarians who serve Scotland to inform them of what the Scottish CAB Service do and how they can work with us. The guide details the work done to help their constituents at a local level by bureaux and the evidence-based national policy work carried out by the Scottish CAB service. It has been sent to every MP and MSP in Scotland. As well as providing a general overview of the work done by the Scottish CAB service, it also provides each parliamentarian with an individual "constituency profile" highlighting the top ten issues within their constituency.
Changes to the welfare system
Across Scotland, bureaux are delivering information sessions to workers from other organisations on the reforms to the welfare system. The sessions are designed to ensure workers have an increased awareness of the reforms to the welfare system and how this may impact their clients. In addition, bureaux are delivering a programme of work designed to mitigate the impact of welfare reform on clients. The majority of this activity is focused on providing additional client support by way of additional opening and staff hours.
If you would like to know more about Financial Skills for Life or any of the programmes above, please contact Emma Balfour.
