CAB Scotland, Government agencies aggressive and unhelpful

CAB Scotland, Welfare reform a real concern

GOVERNMENT agencies have been described as being “unhelpful, aggressive and incompetent” in a report by Citizens Advice Bureau Scotland.

Citizens Advice Bureau Scotland has also identified welfare reform as its greatest concern for 2012.

A survey by CAB Scotland of its staff revealed a number of angry comments about some of the agencies they regularly have to deal with on behalf of their clients.

This year’s survey shows that 53 per cent of Scotland’s CAB staff think benefits issues are the single biggest problem area, and 73 per cent said this was one of their top two issues.

Other concerns

The other major concern was personal debt, which was cited by 21 per cent of CAB advisers as their main issue and by 46 per cent as one of their top two issues.

CAB Scotland’s head of policy, Susan McPhee, said:

“This year’s survey shows that the reforms being made to the benefits system are really hitting the most vulnerable Scots, and our staff around the country now believe this is by far the greatest problem they see being brought to the CAB.

“Debt also remains high on the list, and there is a big rise in concern about the behaviour of utility companies, much of which was based on the issue of high fuel bills.”

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– Sickness and Disability Benefits Enquiries Increasing for the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)

With so many flaws in the current system we predict the number of people who come to us for advice on this benefit will only continue to increase”

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Gillian Guy, Chief Executive (Citizens Advice Bureau)

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Since ESA was introduced (October 2008) the Citizens Advice Bureau has been monitoring its impact. The CAB is concerned about the poor level of knowledge of ESA rules among Jobcentre Plus and DWP medical staff. It is also concerned about the inadequate administration systems and the crude nature of the work capability assessment (use our search function to see our previous comments about the WCA and Atos Healthcare).

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The Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) across England and Wales dealt with 6% more benefit problems between April-June 2010, compared to the same period last year.  New figures indicate that in the first quarter of the financial year (2010/11) the total rise in welfare benefit(s) queries was due to large increases in advice on sickness and disability benefits.

• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) rose 77% (from 25,528 problems in Q1 09/10 to 45,257 in Q1 10/11).

• Carers Allowance rose 17%  (from 11,558 problems in Q1 09/10 to 13,488 in Q1 10/11).

• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) rose 11%  (from 98,380 problems in Q1 09/10 to 108,742 in Q1 10.11)

Citizens Advice Bureau press article

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