Publications

This briefing focusses on amendments tabled to the Scotland Bill addressing areas where the
Bill does not appear to meet the intent of the Smith Agreement. Citizens Advice
Scotland is concerned that, as currently drafted, there are risks of detriment
to CAB clients, who sought advice on 220,000 new
benefits issues in 2014/15 and who have been subject to recent changes to reserved tribunals which have
had a marked and detrimental effect on consumers in Scotland.

Whilst there are a number of areas of the Scotland Bill that fully meet the word and spirit of the Smith Agreement, Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) believes that, as currently drafted, there are a number of sections of the Bill relating to social security and tribunals that do not appear to meet its intent.  CAS is concerned that without changes being made there are clear risks of detriment to CAB clients, who sought advice on 207,875 new benefits issues in 2013/14 and who have been subject to recent changes to reserved tribunals which have had a marked and detrimental effect on consumers in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s consultation focuses on changes to the public procurement rules in Scotland. These changes are as a result of new EU legislation, and are designed to further simplify the public procurement rules, and to support wider public policy aims including delivering sustainable economic growth. CAS’ response highlights the need to make sure that the changes deliver positive outcomes for the paying public, and deliver value for the service end users. Our response also emphasises that the changes to the procurement rules need to ensure that public bodies promote fair employment practice through public procurement.

This report presents findings from a collaborative research project between the University of Strathclyde and Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) into the views of Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) advisers within Scotland on the impact of Employment Tribunal (ET) fees.

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill proposes changes on three specific issues of concern to CAS – the misuse of zero hours contracts, the non-payment of Employment Tribunal awards, and workers being paid less than the National Minimum Wage.

This briefing focusses on a concerning aspect of the rise of the zero hours contract – the insecurity of working hours and income caused by workers being guaranteed no set amount of work, or even any hours at all in any given week. The human impact of the insecurity of income can be seen through the stories of CAB clients who have been forced to borrow from payday lenders and even resort to food banks because of significant variances in their pay from week to week. In this situation, budgeting can be impossible and the safety net of the benefits system inaccessible because of the unpredictable nature of their working hours.  We make a number of recommendations including a call for workers on a zero hours contract to be given a statutory ‘right to request’ a contract that guarantees hours, without fear of dismissal.

Clients 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.

In 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.