Social policy

This briefing focusses on a concerning aspect of the rise of the zero hours contract – the insecurity of working hours and income caused by workers being guaranteed no set amount of work, or even any hours at all in any given week. The human impact of the insecurity of income can be seen through the stories of CAB clients who have been forced to borrow from payday lenders and even resort to food banks because of significant variances in their pay from week to week. In this situation, budgeting can be impossible and the safety net of the benefits system inaccessible because of the unpredictable nature of their working hours.  We make a number of recommendations including a call for workers on a zero hours contract to be given a statutory ‘right to request’ a contract that guarantees hours, without fear of dismissal.

Our 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.

Claiming 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.

The 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.

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.

Clients facing problems with zero hours employment contracts have been increasingly reported by CAB. Based on their evidence, CAS responded to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills' consultation on the issue.

The Housing (Scotland) Bill is proposed to make a number of changes to the law affecting both social and private rental housing. Based on the experiences of CAB clients, CAS submitted written evidence to the Scottish Parliament Committee examining the Bill.

CAS have submitted evidence to the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee on the Housing (Scotland) Bill.

 Citizens Advice Scotland broadly supports the Bill as introduced, but has some recommendations for areas where it could be strengthened or clarified.

The Scottish Government is consulting on a draft Bill, the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Bill, which would make the Scottish Welfare Fund a permanent, statutory scheme.  This consultation focuses on the contents of the Bill and arrangements for second tier review.

Advice in Detail: Energy looks at the energy related issues which people brought to the Scottish CAB Service in 2012/13.  The report, based on evidence from citizens advice bureaux and the Citizens Advice consumer service, shows that consumers continue to face many and varied problems with their energy, from high costs to poor selling practices.  The report also demonstrates the value of CAB advice, with the financial gain for clients reaching almost a quarter of a million pounds in 2012/13 – up 15% from the previous year.