Public

What a year it’s been, for all of us. We’ve seen some big changes in Scottish Government, nationally and locally, and the emergence of the economic conditions that we now know as the Credit Crunch.

This has, undeniably, been a very testing year for Citizens Advice Scotland. In 2006/07, CAS was subjected to a ‘zero-based review’ by the government against a background of an exceptionally tight public expenditure round. This review concluded that we offer good value for money.

Nevertheless we have had to absorb a 10% cut in core funding in the current year and we are facing a standstill budget for the next 4 years. In real terms this represents a 23% cut in our core grant.

A bank arrestment is a particularly harsh form of diligence, or formal debt recovery. Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has been campaigning for change in this area for a number of years.

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) service in Scotland offers assistance across the whole range of issues which affect clients. This puts us in a unique position to comment on the interaction between policy initiatives originating from the Westminster Government and those which come from the Scottish Executive. One such area is the interface between Westminster’s policy on overpaid tax credits and the Scottish Executive’s policy on helping people with debt problems.

With 81,984 enquiries about consumer-related issues brought to Scotland’s bureaux in 2003/2004, consumer scams are an issue clients and advisers are all too familiar with. Clients have been targeted with a number of sophisticated techniques, via post, email and telephone. The kinds of scams brought to bureaux range from the promise of prizes for the cost of a small claim fee, to the targeting of small business with fake information which demands fees for registration under the Data Protection Act.

While the majority of those who serve make a successful transition to civilian life, a significant minority experience challenging problems. While these problems do not differ considerably from those of the average person, it is the complexity and severity of these problems that are markedly different.

The Citizens Advice Service is a key component of the debt advice landscape in Scotland, providing access to debt solutions for thousands of clients every year. Bureau advisers provide the frontline advice that enables the debt relief system to work for debtors and creditors alike.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) are broadly supportive of reform to the Scottish Tribunal System which incorporates and builds on the positive features of an accessible, independent, user-focused system.