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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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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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Publication date:March 2014The work of the Citizens Advice Service in Scotland helps our clients access the advice they so dearly need, but we do so much more.
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Repossessions in Scotland: A note on the experience of Citizens Advice Bureaux in Scotland 2011-2012
A note on the experience of Citizens Advice Bureaux in Scotland 2011-2012Publication date:March 2014In 2011/2012, bureaux across Scotland advised on almost 52,000 housing issues which represented a spectrum of housing-related problems from access to a tenancy, to problems with the condition of a property, neighbour problems and repossession.
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Working at the EdgePublication date:March 2014
National statistics show that more than half of the people living in relative poverty in the UK live in a household where at least one person works.
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Response from Citizens Advice ScotlandPublication date:March 2014Clients 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.
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CAS ResponsePublication date:March 2014
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.
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Written Evidence from Citizens Advice ScotlandPublication date:March 2014The 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.
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Response from CASPublication date:February 2014
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.
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Publication date:February 2014Citizens Advice Scotland responds to The Royal Society of Edinburgh’s interim report of their inquiry into spreading the benefits of digital participation.
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Issues brought to the Scottish CAB Service in 2012/13Publication date:January 2014Advice 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.
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Response from CASPublication date:January 2014
CAS has submitted detailed evidence to the Government-commissioned Independent Review of Sanctions.
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Publication date:December 2013This briefing focuses on the impact of the Bedroom Tax on citizens advice bureaux and clients in its first eight months and calls for some client groups to be exempted completely rather than helped through the short-term solution of Discretionary Housing Payments.
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CAS briefing for policy makersPublication date:December 2013This briefing was provided for a Scottish Parliament members debate on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Plans to Regulate the Payday Loan Industry. Citizens Advice Bureaux across Scotland deal with 100 cases every week regarding problems with payday loan debt. CAS have made a number of recommendations that we believe will help alleviate the biggest issues clients are seeking advice on.
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CAS responsePublication date:December 2013
CAS has responded to the Financial Services Authority consultation on consumer credit.
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Publication date:November 2013Citizens Advice Scotland carried out a year-long survey of members of the public who had used payday loans (November 2012 to 2013). This followed the introduction of a payday lenders ‘Good Practice Customer Charter’ which 90% of payday lenders signed up to and committed to stamping out bad practice. Our results, backed up by case studies seen at CAB, show that one year on, many of the problems still exist for borrowers, and the code of conduct is being ignored repeatedly.
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Publication date:November 2013In April 2013, an estimated 82,000 households in Scotland were affected by the under occupancy penalty for social housing – often referred to as the ‘bedroom tax’. These households have experienced an average reduction in housing support of around £11 per week, a loss of £53 million annually across Scotland. In the six months after the change, over 1,600 affected people sought advice on the ‘bedroom tax’ at a CAB in Scotland, and we are starting to get a picture of the social impact of the policy.
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CAS responsePublication date:October 2013
Citizens Advice Scotland has reponded to the Scottish Affairs Committte's request for written evidence on how zero hours contracts affect people in Scotland.
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CAS responsePublication date:October 2013
Citizens Advice Scotland has responded to the Business Innovation and Skills consultation on consumer protection from unfair trading regulations.
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CAS responsePublication date:October 2013
CAS has responded to the Financial Conduct Authority's consultation on how they approach achieving their objectives in regulating financial products.
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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.