Social policy

Each year Scottish Citizens Advice Bureaux collect statistics on the enquiries brought by clients to our offices across the country. This information helps us to spot patterns and trends in advice seeking and to gauge the scale of specific problems. This briefing presents an overview of the problems seen by Scottish citizens advice bureaux from April 2007 to March 2008.

Over the year, statistics are collected about the nature of every enquiry brought by clients to each of the 60 Scottish Citizens Advice Bureaux. This information helps us to spot patterns and trends in advice seeking and to gauge the scale of specific problems. This briefing presents an overview of the problems seen by Scottish citizens advice bureaux from April 2006 to March 2007.

In every bureau in Scotland, statistics are collated over the course of the year about the nature of each enquiry brought by clients to the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) service. This information enables us to build up a profile of the issues of concern to our clients, and to identify trends in advice seeking. The information in this briefing is based on statistics collected between April 2004 and March 2005. The figures do not represent a head count as any one client may raise a number of issues during an advice session.

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) service in Scotland offers assistance across the whole range of issues which affect clients. This puts us in a unique position to comment on the interaction between policy initiatives originating from the Westminster Government and those which come from the Scottish Executive. One such area is the interface between Westminster’s policy on overpaid tax credits and the Scottish Executive’s policy on helping people with debt problems.

While the majority of those who serve make a successful transition to civilian life, a significant minority experience challenging problems. While these problems do not differ considerably from those of the average person, it is the complexity and severity of these problems that are markedly different.

The Citizens Advice Service is a key component of the debt advice landscape in Scotland, providing access to debt solutions for thousands of clients every year. Bureau advisers provide the frontline advice that enables the debt relief system to work for debtors and creditors alike.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) are broadly supportive of reform to the Scottish Tribunal System which incorporates and builds on the positive features of an accessible, independent, user-focused system.