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Briefing on paid staff and volunteers; types of services provided to compliment the generalist service; client financial gains; how clients contacted CAB and the work undertaken by CAB in addition to giving advice.

Statistical briefing on advice given; client demographics based on an annual survey of CAB clients undertake for 4 weeks in November 2017 including comparison to SIMD data.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) have already stated that we believe that further roll out and managed migration of UC should be paused until the many issues affecting our clients have been resolved. We note that the intention is to start migration on a small scale from January 2019 before ramping up volumes once process has been tested. While CAS welcomes the changes that have been made to UC during roll out it is clear that there are still issues to be resolved. To proceed with managed migration before resolving all the issues will negatively impact a significant number of people.

In 2017/18, Scotland’s CAB network provided advice on 19,047 issues related to Universal Credit (UC), which by the end of the period had only been rolled out to around half of Scotland’s local authority areas. Additionally, CAB advised clients on 10,562 Working Tax Credit and 11,499 Child Tax Credit issues, which are the main in-work benefits that will be replaced by UC.

The Energy Advice in Detail report provides an annual assessment of the energy issues clients of the Citizens Advice network in Scotland sought assistance with, and places those within a wider policy context.

Mains gas is both the cheapest means to heat homes and the most common heating fuel in Scotland, England and Wales. However many people, particularly in certain areas and demographics, do not have access to, or do not make use of, mains gas for heating their home.

The report is based on research carried out by Changeworks and Hilliam Research on behalf of CAS. CAS commissioned the research understand the implications for consumers of energy and climate change policy in Scotland, and provides analysis of the Scottish Government’s new Climate Change Plan and Energy Strategy. In particular, we sought to understand the type of behaviour changes that could be expected of consumers as a result of these policies, and the steps being taken by the Scottish Government and others to facilitate these changes. 

The Consumer Futures Unit at Citizens Advice Scotland has developed a leaflet for those in receipt of benefits that clarifies what they are due to pay for water and sewerage charges, and includes any exemptions, discounts and reductions they may be due.

Citizens Advice Scotland provided evidence to HM Treasury's pre-paid funeral plans: call for evidence. We focused on the importance of ensuring consumers were both fully informed and protected from harm.

Citizens Advice Scotland responded to Financial Conduct Authority's Discussion Paper on Rent to Own, answering questions about 'What alternative solutions could there be to address harm from high prices?' and 'What issues should the Financial Conduct Authority should take into account in carrying out further work on a price‑cap'