This marks the first time Universal Credit wasn’t the top advice area since Citizens Advice Scotland started monitoring monthly advice trends during the pandemic.

Advice in relation to regulated fuel made up 15% of all advice in December 2022.

Utilities and Communications advice - the majority of which is related to energy - increased 70% from November 2022, nearly doubling in terms of the amount of advice provided. This is a further increase of 98% from the same time last year.

Food bank related advice was also at an all-time-high in December, with 2,649 pieces of food bank advice issued by Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABs) across Scotland.

Meanwhile, online advice around facing eviction because their home had been repossessed peaked in December 2022 since its creation in April 2021, increasing 30% from November and 824% from December 2021.

Across the country people are seeking advice from the CAB network on energy issues. In one case, a single parent of two children, including a disabled child, sought advice from a CAB in the west of Scotland after being unable to afford additional energy costs. Her child needed additional medical equipment for her condition however rising bills meant the family stopped using the equipment and the child had to take time off of school as a result.

In another case, an older couple with health issues sought advice from a west of Scotland CAB regarding their debt to an energy supplier. The couple had made a repayment offer of usage plus £20 per month but this was refused with the supplier applying for a warrant to install a pre-payment meter. The CAB liaised with the supplier and initiated an application to the Home Heating Support Fund.

Also in the west of Scotland, a CAB gave advice to a single parent of two children under 5, who had self-disconnected from gas and felt unable to re-connect in the knowledge that standing charges arrears accumulated during disconnection would have to be repaid via ongoing top ups. The mother was not heating her property adequately due to the cost of electric heaters.

Citizens Advice Scotland chief executive, Derek Mitchell, said: “The Citizens Advice network is a wraparound service. That means when people come to a CAB we help them through all their problems, not just the one they present with.

“Historically, and certainly since welfare reform in the early 2010s, the single largest areas of advice demand on the CAB network has related to some form of social security payment, be that Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment.

“For energy advice to overtake that is a significant moment, and shows the scale of the energy crisis. December was bitterly cold at points. There’s a real risk people are rationing their energy and sitting in cold, dark homes.

“Meanwhile, food bank advice is an all-time high. That’s the sickening reality of this crisis, people can’t afford their essential bills and start to cut back elsewhere.”

He added: “We are seeing projections that inflation is set to fall later this year but that is no comfort to people making impossible choices between heating and eating now, and we need to seriously consider the legacy this cost of living crisis is going to leave on people – one of debt, poverty and destitution.

“People can seek advice from their local CAB or our online resources if they are worried about money and bills and we would really encourage them to do so.

“We’re for everyone regardless of if you are in work or not, and our advisers get real results. One in six people who sought advice from a CAB last year saw some sort of financial gain, the average value of which was over £4,200. That could be life changing money this winter.”