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Citizens Advice, Citizens Advice Scotland and Consumer Council for Northern Ireland consultation responsePublication date:February 2015As the statutory representative for consumers of postal services across Scotland, England, and Wales the Citizens Advice Service and the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland are pleased to respond to Ofcom’s consultation on Royal Mail Access Pricing and its specific aims to amend the regulatory framework relating to the Universal Service Provider Access (USPA) Condition.
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Consultation responsePublication date:February 2015As the statutory representative for consumers of postal services across Scotland, England and Wales, The Citizens Advice Service responds to Royal Mail’s consultation document on the introduction of New International Large Letters format.
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Publication date:February 2015
CAS welcomes new the Draft Provision of Water and Sewerage Services (Reasonable Cost) (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and would welcome clarity from the Scottish Government on whether any review of Council Tax / local taxation may impact the Regulations with regard to council tax banding.
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Protecting Scotland’s Workers from Unfair TreatmentPublication date:February 2015Spotlight: -
Publication date:January 2015
This is the second Priorities Report by the Consumer Protection Partnership (CPP), of which CAS is a member, following the publication of the first Priorities Report in November 2013.
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Publication date:January 2015
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) is seeking tenders from all interested parties to undertake research into consumers’ experience of water and sewerage debt.
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Publication date:January 2015
Citizens Advice Scotland welcomes new measures that will improve and protect water sources within catchment areas, and will mitigate the need for Scottish Water to treat contaminated water to the cost of the paying customer.
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A consultation on draft RegulationsPublication date:January 2015
CAS has responded to the consultation on the draft regulations for Universal Credit data sharing. In order to provide a representative response on behalf of the Citizens Advice Service, we consulted bureaux in Scotland on the proposals and received responses from 32 citizens advice bureaux. This response represents a summary of the responses received.
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Publication date:December 2014
CAS has responded to the Work and Pensions Committee’s inquiry into benefit sanctions policy beyond the Oakley Review. We believe that the Review was too narrow in its remit and this inquiry represents a vital opportunity to take a wider look at the sanctions regime, its purpose and impact on claimants.
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Publication date:December 2014Childcare in Scotland has moved up the political agenda in recent years with the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 extending the amount of free early education available for three and four year olds as well as looked-after two year olds, those in kinship care and those from workless households, from 475 to 600 hours per year.
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Commission on Housing & WellbeingPublication date:November 2014CAS contributed evidence to the independent Commission on Housing & Wellbeing's wide-ranging consultation on how housing can promote a society in which everyone can flourish.
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Publication date:November 2014
CAS has submitted a response to the Scottish Government's draft Community Energy Policy Statement for public consultation.
CAS welcomes the potential benefits of community energy and recommend that the Scottish Government applies key consumer principles, which are outlined in our response, to ensure that the benefits of community energy projects are consistent and accessible.
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Publication date:November 2014
CAS has submitted a response to the EU’s consultation on policy options to optimise water reuse in the EU. CAS’s response highlights the need to combine regulatory and non-regulatory measures in order to increase levels of water reuse across the EU, including action to raise awareness about the benefits of water reuse.
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Consultation on Tackling Avoidance from Department for Business, Innovation and SkillsPublication date:November 2014Based on evidence from bureaux, CAS has consistently raised concerns over misuse of zero hours contracts by employers. The UK Government proposes to ban exclusivity clause in zero hours contracts as part of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, and consulted on how avoidance of the ban could be tackled.
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Publication date:October 2014
CAS responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the Reservoirs (Scotland) Act 2011: Registration, Charging, Risk designation and associated aspects. CAS generally welcomed the proposals in the consultation which will help to provide communities with greater protection against the risk of flooding from reservoirs. CAS highlighted that would help to protect communities, and minimise the risks of businesses and consumers facing significant remedial and clean-up costs as a result of any damage caused by flooding from reservoirs.
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Written Evidence submissionPublication date:October 2014
Written Evidence submitted from the Citizens Advice Service (Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland) to the Business, Innovation & Skills Select Committee into Competition in the UK postal sector and the universal service obligation.
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Consultation by the Social Security Advisory CommitteePublication date:October 2014CAS commented on a proposal to introduce seven benefit 'waiting days' for new Universal Credit claimants. This follows a recent increase in the number of waiting days from three to seven for JSA and ESA. We drew the SSAC's attention to a number of potential issues, including possible equalities impacts, the impact on housing and rent arrears, on other benefits and on in-work claimants on zero hours contracts.
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Unfair Charges for Parking on Private Land: A Report by Citizens Advice ScotlandPublication date:October 2014Citizens Advice Bureaux across Scotland have been inundated in the last year with complaints regarding over-zealous parking charges - they are not fines - being handed out by the private parking industry in Scotland.
This has resulted in demand at the Citizens Advice service in Scotland reaching an unprecedented level – a 50% increase in cases regarding parking this year compared to last. This is an issue that affects everyone, but we are especially worried by cases brought to us by vulnerable Scots including those who are disabled and elderly caught out by poor signage and unfair appeals processes.
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House of Commons Public Bill CommitteePublication date:October 2014The 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.
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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.