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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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Advice trends in ScotlandPublication date:September 2013This report examines trends in the kinds of issues on which consumers in Scotland sought advice from the Citizens Advice Service in the first quarter of 2013/14.
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CAS responsePublication date:September 2013
Citizens Advice Scotland has responded to a consultation on the proposed merging of the Scottish Tribunals Service and the Scottish Court Service.
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CAS responsePublication date:September 2013
CAS has responded to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) consultation on its draft bill on consumer rights. In our submission we welcome the alignment of rights for goods and services while making some suggested amendments to further protect consumer in this field.
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CAS responsePublication date:September 2013
CAS has issued a response to the Competition Comission's payday lending market investigation drawing on evidence from Citizens Advice Bureaux across Scotland and callers to the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline.
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Publication date:September 2013
Our Strategic Plan for 2018 – 23 sets out what drives our work and what we aim to achieve.
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July casesPublication date:September 2013Citizens Advice Bureaux in Scotland help hundreds of thousands of people with over half a million new issues each year. Snapshot uses evidence on these issues to act as an early warning system for government, service providers, and private sector companies, to show where policies and practices are failing or inefficient. These monthly briefings use very recent evidence and are an excellent way of spotting trends and tracing the impact of recent policy changes.
This edition is based on the advice needs of clients who approached bureaux during July 2013.
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CAS response to the 'Litchfield Review'Publication date:August 2013
CAS responds to the Fourth Independent Review of the Work Capability Assessment, part of Employment Spport Allowance. In our submission we focus on the need for effective gathering of medical evidence, on some of the adminsitrative problems seen in bureaux, and the increasing severity of the consequences of getting entitlement decisions wrong. We make a number of recommendations to improve the system.
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June casesPublication date:July 2013Citizens Advice Bureaux in Scotland help hundreds of thousands of people with over half a million new issues each year. Snapshot uses evidence on these issues to act as an early warning system for government, service providers, and private sector companies, to show where policies and practices are failing or inefficient. These monthly briefings use very recent evidence and are an excellent way of spotting trends and tracing the impact of recent policy changes.
This edition is based on the advice needs of clients who approached bureaux during June 2013.
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Publication date:July 2013This briefing was provided for a Westminster debate on the Effect Of Government Policy On Disabled People. CAB across Scotland have experienced an increase in need for advice and support due to the impact of welfare changes and benefit cuts. These have had a disproportionate impact on disabled people who are already or will be affected by a multitude of detrimental changes.
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April casesPublication date:June 2013Citizens Advice Bureaux in Scotland help hundreds of thousands of people with over half a million new issues each year. Snapshot uses evidence on these issues to act as an early warning system for government, service providers, and private sector companies, to show where policies and practices are failing or inefficient. These monthly briefings use very recent evidence and are an excellent way of spotting trends and tracing the impact of recent policy changes.
This edition is based on the advice needs of clients who approached bureaux during April 2013.
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Scottish Affairs CommitteePublication date:June 2013
The UK Government’s changes to Housing Benefit have had a significant impact on claimants in Scotland. In this briefing, we have concentrated on the developing impact of the ‘bedroom tax’.
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Publication date:May 2013
Citizens advice bureaux, and a range of other community organisations, have reported a significant rise in the number of service users who are either struggling to afford adequate food or who are experiencing a crisis where they cannot afford food at all. A range of factors are causing this trend, including falling incomes, a rise in food prices, and benefit cuts. This represents a worsening of a situation where many families were already struggling to afford adequate food. The establishment of the new food body in Scotland represents a timely opportunity to address many of the wider food-related issues that particularly affect Scotland, including food poverty, poor diet, obesity and ill health.
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Submission to the Work and Pensions Select CommitteePublication date:May 2013The Work and Pensions Select Committee at the House of COmmons is holding an inquiry into the effectiveness of Jobcentre Plus, particularly in the context of current welfare reforms.
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Publication date:May 2013
CAS responds to the HMRC's consultation on supporting customers who need additional help. We focus on our experience of supporting clients with tax credits issues.
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Publication date:May 2013In early 2013, the Scottish Government put the Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill out for consultation. The Bill embodies the changes envisiged in the Gill Review (2007) and includes proposals for the introduction of a new judicial tier as well as a specalist personal injury court. This is the Citizens Advice Scotland response.
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Submission to the Public Administration Select Committee inquiryPublication date:May 2013
Citizens Advice Bureaux experience very significant difficulties resolving problems with benefits and tax credits on behalf of clients. A complaints mechanism is only as good as the system it supports. Where there is a lack of faith in the system itself, it is likely there will also be a lack of faith in the complaints procedure.
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Digital exclusion amongst Scotland's CAB clientsPublication date:May 2013In November 2012, the UK Government launched its Government Digital Strategy . This paper sets out how the Government will transform the way it delivers services to citizens, including moving services online – a change in ethos to “digital by default”. The strategy includes an expectation that 80% of benefits applications will be completed online by 2017 . This new strategy comes at the same time as the Government’s changes to the welfare system which, coupled with at least £18 billion of cuts to the UK welfare budget, will cause significant upheaval for citizens currently in receipt of benefits.
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March casesPublication date:May 2013Citizens Advice Bureaux in Scotland help hundreds of thousands of people with over half a million new issues each year. Snapshot uses evidence on these issues to act as an early warning system for government, service providers, and private sector companies, to show where policies and practices are failing or inefficient. These monthly briefings use very recent evidence and are an excellent way of spotting trends and tracing the impact of recent policy changes.
This edition is based on the advice needs of clients who approached bureaux during March 2013.
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.