Falkirk area CAB offices continue vital services despite COVID-19 restrictions

Despite the current restrictions the three CAB officers in the Falkirk Council area – Grangemouth and Bo’ness, Denny and Dunipace and Falkirk – have continued to provide their service as demand for help and advice continues to grow during the lockdown.

They have done so mainly by telephone and e-mail, and – in emergency situations where government guidance allowed – have also provided face to face advice and significant investment by CAB offices has been made in the last year to ensure each office is COVID-19 compliant and a safe working environment.

This investment also includes IT equipment to enable staff and volunteers to work from home.

Bill Palombo, Grangemouth CAB manager, said: “The safety of our staff and volunteers is paramount, and any who need to or wish to can work from home. Obviously during lockdown working at home becomes the default, but crucially it means the CAB can still respond to client enquiries even during a lockdown.”

The pandemic has also changed the types of inquiries CAB staff have received.

Mary Baillie, Falkirk CAB manager, said: “While some of the CAB services provide targeted advice – to families and disabled people for instance – much of our work is consumer led and, as such, reflects the most prevalent issues faced by our clients.

“For example, employment problems normally account for around four per cent of all enquiries. However, during the pandemic this has increased to eight per cent, which is not surprising given the impact on the economy of the pandemic.”

According to new research from Citizens Advice, On the Edge: Insecure work in the pandemic, agency workers and those on zero-hours contracts, including “gig economy” workers, were more likely to have seen their employment rights violated, faced job losses and lost income during the pandemic compared to the rest of the working population.

Compared to the rest of the working population, these insecure workers were on average four times more likely to have faced losing their job, three times more likely to have been made to work while ill and to have not been paid wages they were owed and one-and-a-half times more likely to have lost income.

Those who had lost income lost an average of £1000 a month since last March.

Kate Hughes, Denny CAB manager believes the significant reduction in disputes and appeals CAB staff deal is due to the DWP extending disability benefit awards and delaying reviews

She added: “While we welcome this approach during the pandemic it does mean that, as we go back to some form of normality, the DWP will start to clear the backlog, resulting in a significant spike in benefit disputes which will present a significant challenge for CAB to meet that demand.”

Mr Palombo said: “Many creditors are being more lenient when someone falls into arrears. Again this is welcome but in many cases these debt issues will eventually need to be addressed.

“This is going to be another challenge for CAB to prepare for. Our advice is the earlier you address these issues the better, and we are here to help if required.”

Visit www.cas.org.uk for more information.