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Publication date:July 2014This report is one of the most detailed examinations of the impact of sanctions in Scotland so far. It provides an analysis of the current system, its impact on clients , real case evidence and the findings of a survey of Scottish CAB advisers. We also provide 16 recommendations that are needed to the current system and why they are needed.
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Response to the Strategic Review of Charges 2015-21 – Draft DeterminationPublication date:June 2014
Citizens Advice Scotland welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Strategic Review of Charges 2015-21 Draft Determination. Citizens Advice Scotland supports increased customer engagement in the regulatory process to bring about better outcomes for customers.
We believe that the process laid out within the Draft Determination will strengthen the link between customer feedback and the service they receive.
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Publication date:June 2014New research from Citizens Advice Scotland has found that many bereaved Scots are finding it hard to pay the growing costs of burying their loved ones.
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Publication date:June 2014In October 2013 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) made it a requirement that all claimants for benefits who wanted to take a case to appeal would have to get a DWP decision maker to reconsider the decision first. This is known as a mandatory reconsideration. Whilst claimants must ask for mandatory reconsideration within four weeks from the notice of a decision; there are no timescales within which the DWP have to respond though the aim is within 16 working days.
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Publication date:June 2014‘Kinship care’ is the term for people who look after children who are part of their extended family. They can be the grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles or close friends of children whose parents are no longer able to care for them. These people do a great service for the children by providing a stable family home and to society by saving the money that would be spent if the state needed to care of these children.
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Publication date:May 2014The number of Scots falling victim to financial rip-offs is increasing dramatically. A special helpline set up by CAS to deal solely with consumer issues saw a 14% increase last year in calls about scams.
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Evidence to Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities CommitteePublication date:May 2014CAS submitted written evidence to the Equal Opportunities Committee's follow-up inquiry to their 'Having and Keeping a Home' report in 2012 which examined the causes of homelessness amongst young people and steps that could be taken to prevent it.
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Conference reportPublication date:May 2014Leading charities gathered in the Glasgow City Chambers for The Working Together to Tackle Poverty Conference in March 2014.
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Publication date:May 2014
CAS financial statements for the year ended 31st March 2014.
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Publication date:May 2014Advice in Scotland 2012/13 is Citizens Advice Scotland’s state of the nation report on the problems that people are experiencing across the country.
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Scottish Water regulatory period 2015-21Publication date:May 2014
Citizens Advice Scotland welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to the Infrastructure and Investment Committee on the Strategic Review of Charges 2015-21.
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Publication date:April 2014CAS has submitted evidence on food parcels to the Welfare Reform Committee ahead of an oral evidence session on the 29th April 2014.
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Publication date:April 2014Our series of briefings ‘Voices from the Frontline’ show the reality of the impact of current welfare changes on the people of Scotland. We highlight the experiences of the thousands of clients advised by CAB in Scotland and make recommendations for change.
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Publication date:April 2014Claiming sickness and disability benefits can be a stressful process, and many bureaux clients feel that the medical assessments for the benefit do not reflect their difficulties.
They often feel they need additional evidence from their doctor to demonstrate the true picture, but getting this evidence and having it considered can be difficult and costly.
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Case evidence and statistics from the Scottish CAB servicePublication date:April 2014The Scottish CAB service have seen payday loans as one of the fastest growing areas of work in the last year. This evidence report reveals case evidence and statistics from our 2013 payday loan survey.
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The Postcode Penalty: The Business BurdenPublication date:April 2014The Scottish CAB service has been campaigning on the issue of unfair delivery charges for the past four years.
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Publication date:April 2014
CAS provided written evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee’s investigation into the new sanctions regime.
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Report for Consumer Futures Scotland – Final ReportPublication date:March 2014In 2014 Consumer Futures commissioned Verco and Cambridge Econometrics to assess the social, environmental and macroeconomic impact of investing carbon tax revenues in energy efficiency programmes for fuel poor households in Scotland. It follows on from a similar UK-wide study commissioned by Consumer Futures in 2012 that demonstrated that investing money raised through carbon taxes into household energy efficiency creates more jobs and growth than other kinds of major government investment or tax cuts, in addition to delivering environmental and social benefits. The 2014 report that can be downloaded below focuses specifically on assessing and quantifying these benefits within the Scottish context.
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Evidence to the Work and Pensions Select CommitteePublication date:March 2014
CAS has submitted evidence about the experiences of Scottish bureaux clients claiming Employment and Support Allowance and undergoing the Work Capability Assessment to the House of Commons Select Committee on Work and Pensions.
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Publication date:March 2014
As a member of the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum, Citizens Advice Scotland is working closely with the Scottish Government and other organisations to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, no-one in Scotland is living in fuel poverty by November 2016.
The Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum published it's final report on its review of the Scottish Government's fuel poverty strategy in March 2014. This included a number of recommendations, covering a range of issues that the Forum identified as needing to be acted upon if fuel poverty is to be eradicated by November 2016. Amongst others, these included recommendations on how the government can prioritise: areas of wider poverty and deprivation; fuel poor households who live remote from the gas grid and in harder to treat properties; and improving understanding of the links between fuel poverty and health or other social benefits.
CAS is supportive of the Scottish Government’s drive to eradicate fuel poverty in Scotland and has signed up to all of the recommendations contained in the final report.
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Stressed About Debt? High costs of energy, food and fuel mean that many people are finding it impossible to keep up, worrying about debt or falling behind on bills. The Citizens Advice network in Scotland is here for you, with free, confidential and impartial advice in a variety of ways.