Citizens Advice Bureau - Annual Review 2024/25

From its office in the Mitchell Library, additional services (mainly Money & Debt Advice) are delivered through outreach locations around the city. These include all three GlasgowCity Council Social Work Casework Teams (north east, north west & south) plus Chara House, Elder Street Resettlement Centre, Rodney Street, the City Health & Social Care Partnership Housing Team in Borron Street (Connect), South Portland Street & Clyde Place Hostels, Britannia and Argyle Hotels (for refugees) - during the earlier part of the year; Govan Jobcentre plus office; Glasgow Helping Heroes; Glasgow Life Community Libraries in Royston, Riddrie, Ibrox, Partick & Dennistoun. There is also an in-reach in the Mitchell Library where a member of the GCCAB staff walks round the building to offer assistance to any homeless people taking shelter in the library. There were two projects for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Hunter Street Homeless Services (Complex Needs Service and Challenging Behaviour Rehabilitation Service) that came to an end during the last year. COMMUNITY BASED OUTREACHES Glasgow Central Citizens’ Advice Bureau based in the Mitchell Library, is in an excellent setting for integrating with the multiple services provided by the library. It is centrally located for ease of access to all citizens of Glasgow. Essentially the service from the main office is by ‘drop-in’ covering the Glasgow city wide area. During the year 2024/25 volunteer recruitment was active adding to the volunteer staffing level restored since the Covid 19 lockdown when many volunteers had left for various reasons and the time gap. The frontline service from the main office remains volunteer led supported by salaried staff and management. A multiplicity of outreaches, mostly specific projects for Money & Debt Advice, serve various parts of the city reaching those, often the most vulnerable, who cannot attend the bureau or would not normally engage with main-stream services. Outreach projects are served by paid staff and are by appointments made by referrals from the hosting organisations with whom the bureau works in co-located venues and partnerships. From all points of service delivery the general subject matter is very comprehensive although there is a predominance of financial inclusion, outcomes and the prevention of homelessness activity. Negotiations on clients’ behalf with third parties form the largest type of work. Enquiries are becoming much more complex and frequently involve several issues and often with a choice of options for a resolution. Compared with earlier years there has been a considerable reduction in consumer issues and relationship matters. Immigration enquiries have increased over recent years with the highest level so far in 2024/25. Between September and March there was an influx of enquiries about eVisa - a digital record of identity and immigration status and conditions of status. In that period 336 applications were made for clients and their families. Being an holistic one-stop agency advisers often have to address multiple issues for individual clients – some inter-related to one main issue and some completely different in isolation. While many subjects are covered the main enquiries now are about state benefits, consumer debt, employment and housing matters. Help sought out for money advice is often in the form of debt management. Consumer debt is mainly from store and credit cards and Payday loans. Assistance is given in benefit checks, income maximisation, budgeting, bank accounts, financial capability, debt options, negotiations with creditors, bankruptcy, benefit applications, mandatory reconsiderations, housing options, negotiations with landlords, sustaining accommodation, recovery of wages, resolving employment disputes, Food Bank Vouchers, applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund and any other enquiries presented or diagnosed to be underlying. Personal loans are now becoming less prevalent. Bankruptcy / sequestration (not suitable for everyone) does not increase income but it can alleviate the burden of on-going payments. Other gains include preventing evictions, sustaining tenancies, employers’ references and soft outcomes such as opening bank accounts, increasing income, introducing home insurance and energy efficiency. Where appropriate referrals are made to the Strathclyde University Law Clinic for Employment Appeals, the Legal Services Agency for the prevention of homelessness, the EthnicMinorities LawClinic for complicated immigration cases and the Glasgow City Council Welfare Rights Team for Social Security Appeals. Client Financial Gains essentially come from social security benefits, backdated wages, debt forgiveness and consumer redress. During the year there were additional national projects administered by Citizens’ Advice Scotland including Patients’ Advisory & Support Service(PASS), Help to Claim Universal Credit, Money Talks Plus (incorporating Welfare Reform and Specialist Debt) and Gambling Awareness/ Gambling Harms, Pension wise and assisting with applications for Blue Badges in association with the Glasgow City Council Service Desk in John Street, Glasgow. Atpresentthereisadedicatedteamofvolunteersaveraging40somewithover20years’serviceandcommitment, retaining this advice agency. Support is given by a team of 26 salaried staff which includes management, admin staff, project workers and specialists. Performance is measured against targets set by the various funders, equality and client profile monitoring, diagnosis of issues & underlying issues and effectively addressing them accordingly, internal case checking and compliance with the Membership Audits of Citizens’ Advice Scotland. OVERVIEW OF THE SERVICE This service is a free, independent and confidential service available to anyone who uses the NHS in Scotland and is provided from CABx. It gives support to help understand one’s rights as an NHS patient, make a complaint about NHS care or treatment and practical help to write complaint letters, prepare for meetings, understand NHS responses and ultimately, if necessary, refer a case to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. PASS may be able to help anyone who feels they have had poor, unsafe or unfair NHS treatment, has difficulty navigating NHS complaints procedures or doesn’t understand their rights and responsibilities as an NHS patient. In the last year PASS helped 60 people in this CAB. PASS can be contacted through the bureau: Online: www.patientadvicescotland.org.uk or by Freephone 0800 917 2127 Consultations are by appointment through any of those methods. PATIENTS’ ADVISORY & SUPPORT SERVICE (PASS)