CAB ranks high among Scots in MORI survey

PRESS RELEASE

Scotland’s frontline Citizens Advice Bureaux enjoy an overwhelming vote of public confidence, according to an independent survey that will be unveiled today at the CAB service’s annual conference.

98 per cent of CAB clients questioned by Ipsos MORI Scotland said they felt able to trust the service, while 97 per cent praised the advice and support it offered across a range of issues, its up-to-date and comprehensive information, and the professionalism of its mainly volunteer staff.

A majority of clients (92 per cent) said they would be likely to use the CAB service again (80 percent said ‘very likely’), while 94 per cent would be ‘certain to’ or ‘very likely to’ recommend CAB to a friend or relative.

David Cairns MP, under-secretary of state for Scotland, will announce the findings in the conference’s keynote speech this morning.  “These remarkable results are a ringing endorsement of the free, independent and confidential advice that you offer to the public,” he will tell over 400 delegates from bureaux across the country.

Ipsos MORI Scotland questioned over 500 recent CAB clients in tandem with over 1,000 members of the public.  Among the latter, one in five had also used a CAB in the past three years.  Of these 93 per cent were satisfied with the advice they had received, 95 per cent with the way in which they obtained it, 96 per cent with the way they were treated by staff, and 93 per cent with the service they experienced as a whole.

“Once again, the competency and knowledge and the level to which staff are sympathetic and friendly were cited most frequently as being what’s ‘good’ about the service,” Ipsos MORI commented in its final report.

Other topics to be discussed at the two-day conference include personal debt, the increasing demand for CAB advice by migrant workers in Scotland, and the Government’s controversial welfare reforms.  Speakers and panellists include MSPs Tommy Sheridan and Jackie Bailie.

Long-service awards will also be made to three volunteers who have each racked up 32 years of work for their respective bureaux.  Over 85 per cent of CAB advisers are trained volunteers.

Chief executive Kaliani Lyle said: “Our annual conference allows a welcome opportunity for CAB workers from all over Scotland to meet and exchange views, while our guest-speakers help us consider what issues are coming up that we should know about.

“And, of course, the results of the 2006 MORI survey we commissioned provide a fantastic boost to morale.  It shows the CAB service remains one of the most trusted fixtures on the civic landscape.”

Notes for News Editors

1. The Ipsos MORI Scotland research comprised two main components: a telephone survey among 501 CAB clients who had contacted a CAB between October 2005 – April 2006; and a nationally representative face-to-face survey of 1,064 adults across Scotland.
2. Each CAB is an independent charity, run by a committee of local people, and responsible for raising its own funding.  85 per cent of CAB workers are trained volunteers
3. There are 76 CAB offices across Scotland, which operate from over 200 service points, and which form the country’s largest independent advice network.
4. CAB advice services aim to be freely available and accessible to everyone in the community.
5. Consumer debt is now the single biggest issue that CABx deal with.  Last year, CABx in Scotland dealt with debt totalling over £157m.
6. Images and logos of the CAB service are available from the CAS press and communications officer.