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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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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
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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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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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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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.
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Publication date:April 2013The Scottish Government consulted in early 2013 on the possibility of achieving better dispute resolution in housing through introducing a Housing Tribunal. The consultation sought views on the creation of such a forum and the extent to which a tribunal should have powers. This is the CAS response.
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Publication date:April 2013105,000 households in Scotland will lose £53 million in housing support due to changes coming into force in April 2013. This is the result of new size criteria for social housing – dubbed the ‘bedroom tax’ – which will see working age tenants penalised an average of £11 per week for under occupying their homes. An estimated 83,000 households affected by the change contain at least one disabled adult.
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The impact of benefit reforms, changes and cuts on people and families in ScotlandPublication date:March 2013In October 2011, Citizens Advice Scotland published a briefing entitled The Impact of the Welfare Reform Bill on Scotland’s people and services. The briefing showed that an estimated £2.5 billion would be taken out of the local economy in Scotland during the lifetime of this Parliament and predicted what the impacts would be on people.
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Consultation responsePublication date:March 2013The Department for Work and Pensions is asking for ideas about how they can make jobsearch requirements work for in-work benefit claimants. Read CAS' response here.
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Publication date:March 2013CAS's annual report 2011/12. Further copies and the full financial expenditure report are available on request.
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What Scotland needs from an independent Scottish welfare systemPublication date:March 2013The Scottish Government has set up an Expert Group to examine what a benefits system could look like in an indepedent Scotland. The publication sets out what CAS believes are the core principles for a new social security system for Scotland.
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January casesPublication date:February 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, of where policies and practices are failing or inefficient. These monthly briefings use very recent evidence and are an excellent way of spotting trends to social policy and tracing the impact of recent policy changes.
This edition is based on the advice needs of clients who approached bureaux during January 2013.
Thank you to all bureaux for their feedback, without which this type of publication would not be possible.
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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.