Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has made the call as part of its submission to Holyrood’s Finance and Public Administration Committee’s pre-budget scrutiny call for evidence.

CABs are under increasing pressure and demand. March 2023 saw record breaking demand for advice across the Citizens Advice network in a variety of ways. CABs helped people more than 100,000 times, the highest month on record for individual pieces of advice given, and the highest number of people helped, at over 25,000, in more than three and half years.

The concerns follow on from a report from the Scottish Energy Insights and Coordination Group (SEIC) that warned about insecurity of funding in the sector.

The report warned that “many advice agencies and advisers themselves operate on short term contracts, with associated short-term bidding, recruitment and reporting all taking time away from service delivery for clients.”

The group also noted that “funding is typically offered within single financial years; even if funding is renewed, short term contracts make it challenging to offer long term contracts to advisers. This in turn leads to staff turnover, particularly in smaller organisations.”

CAS chief executive Derek Mitchell said: “It’s not just that CABs are dealing with more cases, they are dealing with more complex cases with clients often presenting at crisis point. That takes a toll and is made all the more draining when your own job security is only guaranteed year to year. Too often advice agencies find themselves issuing redundancy notices to their own staff because there isn’t security of funding.

“It isn’t morally acceptable, or economically optimal, for advisers helping people with employment rights and income maximisation to be unsure of their own job security and income every single year.

“Services are currently underfunded versus demand, and this demand will not end once the cost-of-living crisis headlines do.

“We recognise there is pressure on budgets, however CABs are facing a tidal wave of demand and the outcomes advisers deliver are second to none. Last year one in six people who sought advice saw a financial gain, the average value of which was over £4,200.

“That’s life changing money for people having to choose between putting the heating on and putting food on the table. There’s no capability issue with CABs, but there is a growing capacity concern. Multi-year, flexible funding, ensuring CABs have the security on flexibility to deliver for people, would make a massive difference.”