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.
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Spotlight on: Children and families
Around four out of ten bureau clients have caring responsibilities, with almost a third of clients caring for dependent children. One in nine clients is looking after a member of their family who has a disability.
Our Money Talk Team provides income maximisation for families and older people. The service ensures clients are able to receive all financial support they are entitled to and helps to identify ways they can reduce their outgoings.
News
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22 Aug 2022
A new report from Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) details the breadth and depth of the cost of living crisis, with soaring energy bills driving “frightening” demand for advice around food insecurity.
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7 Apr 2020
If you are in a Debt Arrangement Scheme and struggling to make a payment because of a drop in income due to coronavirus, speak to your money adviser and they can arrange a payment break for you. If, for whatever reason, you cannot access your money adviser Citizens Advice Scotland has developed a helpful guide which outlines the steps you can take to request a payment break yourself.
Publications
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CAS calls for better notice of shifts and shift cancellation
Publication date: January 2020
Citizens Advice Scotland is publishing its response to a UK Government "Good Work Plan" consultation. This consultation looked at unfair one-sided flexible working practices, where the employer expects the worker to be flexible and respond to shift changes with no or little notice, while not reciprocating. In this response, CAS provides examples of workers suffering detriment as a result of one-sided flexibility and makes recommendations to address this.
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Scottish Parliament Social Security Committee inquiry
Publication date: May 2017
CAS is generally concerned about the restriction on families to only being able to claim Child Tax Credits or Universal Credit for two children. Advice on Child Tax Credits is one of the most common issues that clients seek advice on, with 13,363 new issues during the year, an increase of 14% compared with the previous 12 months. A CAB client profile survey in November 2016 showed that 9.3% of clients (1 in every 11) who were given advice on an issue related to Child Tax Credits were from a large family, with three or more dependent children.
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Scottish Parliament Social Security Committee call for evidence
Publication date: March 2017
Citizens Advice Scotland welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to inform the Committee’s consideration of the Bill. Scotland’s CAB Service sees the effects of child poverty on a daily basis, and the majority of advice provided by citizens advice bureaux in Scotland relates to issues related to maximising low incomes, particularly access to social security benefits and dealing with problem debt.
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Scottish Government consultation
Publication date: September 2016
Citizens Advice Scotland agrees that the Scottish Government should
include in statute an ambition to eradicate child poverty. It is equally important
however that this ambition is backed up by clear strategies with specific,
measurable and deliverable actions that are directly linked to reducing the
levels of child poverty in Scotland.
