An Essential Community Service

Citizens Advice Scotland have published a briefing outlining the value of the network in a number of areas including:

• The value of advice for citizens, with one in five people who seek advice seeing a financial benefit, with the average value being £4,400
• The value of the network to wider Scottish society
• The CAB network's impact on child poverty
• The wraparound service CABs provide across a number of areas
• The different channels that the network provides advice

Scotland’s Citizens Advice Network empowers people in every corner of Scotland through our local bureaux and national services by providing free, confidential, and impartial advice. We use people’s reallife experiences to influence national policy and drive positive change. We are on the side of people in Scotland who need help, when and where they need it and we change lives for the better. The Citizens Advice network is made up of 59 local CABs, each its own independent charity, the Extra Help Unit, a group of specialist case workers dealing with energy advice, and Citizens Advice Scotland as the membership body itself. During the pandemic the CAB network helped over 171,000 people and a further 2.5 million people checked our online advice pages. Nine in ten adults in Scotland have heard of Citizens Advice, of which almost one-third had used the service at least once. This briefing outlines the impact of the Citizens Advice network across Scotland, how CABs are providing vital wraparound services in communities to help people solve problems as we emerge from the pandemic and face a cost of living crisis.
 

If you would like to read the full briefing please click the link below.

https://www.cas.org.uk/publications/essential-community-services-brieifng