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Publication date:May 2020
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) welcomes the opportunity to provide evidence on the Bill. The Bill provides an opportunity to make minor amendments to address issues which have been identified since the passage of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, including making provision for the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment. CAS welcomes the Bill and is broadly content with its provisions, although there are a number of areas that the Committee may wish to consider in its scrutiny.
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Work and Pensions Committee inquiryPublication date:April 2020
The DWP’s response to the Coronavirus outbreak has included many welcome changes, benefiting those making a social security claims for the first time, but also those who were already supported by the UK’s safety net. Many issues that social security recipients are still facing in accessing support are similar to the issues CAB clients told us about before the outbreak. Our recommendations aim to help DWP address these issues and are based on quantitative and qualitative data from CAB all over Scotland.
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Publication date:January 2020
The Scottish Campaign on Rights to Social Security (SCoRSS) is a coalition of organisations who advocate for a reformed social security system that reflects the five principles set out in our Principles for Change. SCoRSS (previously the Scottish Campaign on Welfare Reform) encompasses over 40 organisations from key third sector organisations, charities, faith groups, and unions.
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Scottish Commission on Social Security consultationPublication date:January 2020
Citizens Advice Scotland recommends the draft regulations are amended to change or clarify a number of areas to improve the social security support provided to disabled children and young people.
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CAS briefing for MPsPublication date:January 2020
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) believes the Universal Credit (UC) system must change if the benefit is to work for all citizens across Scotland, and the rest of the UK. By ‘work’ CAS means the UC system should not cause financial destitution or debt, should be accessible to everyone and should support people who are in work.
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Social Security Advisory Committee consultationPublication date:December 2019
Citizens Advice Scotland welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation. Advice on disability benefits and mobility are among the most common areas of advice provided by Scotland’s CAB network. In 2018-19, Scottish CAB provided advice to clients on 47,133 issues related to the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and 5,050 related to the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) mobility element.
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Scottish Parliament debatePublication date:November 2019Since the roll out of Universal Credit (UC) began, CAS has repeatedly raised concerns about fundamental elements of the design and delivery of the UC system.
Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) data, including Citizen Alerts (cases from local CAB), have shown the key problem elements of UC to be; the five week wait for first payment, the digital by default system, direct deductions from payments and increasing rent arrears caused by the cycle of payment in arrears.
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Scottish Parliament Social Security Committee inquiryPublication date:October 2019
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) welcomes the opportunity to provide evidence to the inquiry. In 2018-19, Scotland’s CAB network provided advice on 311,714 issues related to benefits, representing 44% of all advice given in that year. To further inform our submission, CAS surveyed 65 CAB advisers, representing a wide range of geographical areas, to gain their insight into issues surrounding benefit uptake.
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Publication date:September 2019
Our series of briefings, 'Voices from the Frontline', demonstrates the impact of changes to the UK social security system on people in Scotland. This latest briefing considers the impact of the five-week wait for a first payment for Universal Credit.
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Scottish Affairs Committee inquiryPublication date:August 2019
CAS recognises that Universal Credit (UC) may be working well for some people. However, evidence from across the Scottish Citizens Advice network suggests that a significant number of people -who are often already vulnerable and/or marginalised- are experiencing hardship and detriment as a result of having to claim UC.
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Publication date:June 2019
Briefing prepared for all Scottish MPs ahead of a Westminster Hall debate on Universal Credit and debt.
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Scottish Government consultationPublication date:May 2019Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) supports the Scottish Government's ‘safe and secure transition’ approach, but would like to see commitments to a number of short and long-term improvements to Disability Assistance, once it replaces PIP, Attendance Allowance and DLA.
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Publication date:May 2019
Our series of briefings, 'Voices from the Frontline', demonstrates the impact of changes to the UK social security system on people in Scotland. This latest briefing considers the barriers to maintaining Universal Credit claims online.
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Publication date:April 2019
CAS welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Work and Pensions Committee's on-going inquiry into Universal Credit.
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Scottish Parliament debatePublication date:April 2019
Citizens Advice Scotland has consistently raised a substantial number of issues associated with the rollout of Universal Credit that have caused stress, detriment or hardship to CAB clients. The rising level of in-work poverty during the last five years has also been a concern for CAS.
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Publication date:April 2019
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Social Security Advisory Committee's call for evidence on the Universal Credit Claimant Commitment.
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Scottish Government consultationPublication date:April 2019Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) welcomes the introduction of the Job Grant, which will provide much-needed support to young people who have been unemployed for six months or more as they start in a job.
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Scottish Parliament Social Security Committee inquiryPublication date:March 2019Advice provided by Scotland’s CAB network in relation to rent arrears has grown by over 40% since 2012, whilst debt-related issues experienced by CAB clients in Scotland have steadily declined over the same period. Given this long-term change, investigating the cause and consequences of rent arrears for CAB clients has been a policy priority for CAS.
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Publication date:February 2019
CAS has responded to the Work and Pensions Committee's inquiry into natural migration from legacy benefits to Universal Credit.
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Evidence to the Scottish Parliament Social Security CommitteePublication date:January 2019The Social Security Charter has the potential to improve the experience of using the social security system for people who need support from it. CAS broadly welcomes the content of the draft Charter. It is essential that these commitments are embedded into the system in practice, and go beyond ‘words on a page’.
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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.