Ms. Abigail Bremner

Abigail Bremner Citizens Advice Scotland Spectrum House 2 Powderhall Road Edinburgh EH7 4GB 0131 550 1000

Abigail Bremner: Citizens Advice Scotland
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Abigail BremnerCitizens Advice ScotlandSpectrum House2 Powderhall RoadEdinburgh EH7 4GB0131 550 1000

Present: Christina Bainbridge (Lord Chancellor's Department), Graham Blount (Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office), Abi Bremner (Citizens Advice Scotland), David Brownlee (Age Concern Scotland), Belinda Crowe (Lord Chancellor's Department), Susan Drew (Highland Advice And Information Network), Alice McAllister (One Parent Families Scotland), Richard Norris (Scottish Association for Mental Health), Judith Paterson (CPAG), Donald Selmes (Lord Chancellor's Department), Derek Sinclair (Carers Scotland), Jo Whitfield (The Action Group)

Abigail Bremner, Social Policy Officer at CAS, has been seconded to the Scottish Executive for nine months from January 2006.
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Abigail BremnerCitizens Advice ScotlandSpectrum House2 Powderhall RoadEdinburgh EH7 4GB0131 550 1000

Abigail Bremner Citizens Advice Scotland Spectrum House 2 Powderhall Road Edinburgh EH7 4GB 0131 550 1000

Abigail Bremner, Citizens Advice Scotland
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Abigail Bremner had produced a monitoring form about telephone contact centres that will be circulated with the minutes from this meeting.
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Abigail BremnerCitizens Advice ScotlandSpectrum House2 Powderhall RoadEdinburgh EH7 4GB0131 550 1000

Abigail Bremner - Capability Scotland
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Abigail Bremner Citizens Advice Scotland Spectrum House 2 Powderhall Road Edinburgh EH7 4GB 0131 550 1000

Abigail Bremner: Citizens Advice Scotland
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Abigail Bremner

Citizens Advice Scotland

Spectrum House

2 Powderhall Road

Edinburgh EH7 4GB

0131 550 1000

Abi Bremner, the policy officer at Citizens Advice Scotland, said the idea behind the self-assessment scheme was to remove the stigma of poverty and to make filling out the form for the benefits similar to completing an annual tax form.

"The problem with this is that people on low incomes don't work out their finances on a year-to-year basis, they are more likely to be trying to get by from week to week."

Ms Bremner added that although those on income support only had to pay back 10 per cent of the amount owed, this would cause further financial hardship for those already on very low incomes.

Abigail Bremner, social policy officer of Citizens Advice Scotland, said: 'Consumer debt consistently ranks as the highest area of concern -- accounting for one in five of issues raised -- and includes anything from bank loans to catalogue debt or hire purchase.

'Unfortunately, people tend to delay contacting us until they reach a critical stage, such as when they are threatened with court action.'

The most significant change concerns employment issues, Bremner said.Having climbed up to rank as the second biggest issue of concern over the past two years, employment terms and conditions look set to continue as an area of growing public concern.

She added: 'Recent changes in employment legislation -- paternity rights, for example -- have undoubtedly prompted people to find out more about their entitlements.Perhaps because of the government's publicity policy, people are more aware now about these changes than before.'

Bremner believes the huge number of calls received by CABx could signal a change in our attitude towards exercising our rights.

She said: 'It's possible that we are becoming more like our European counterparts, and less afraid to complain.But there's still a minority that is too scared to take action, even after they have received advice, particularly in matters of employment.When faced with an employment tribunal, many people back out because they're scared of losing their job.'

Bremner said general discrimination against women in the workplace had waned, accompanied however by a rise in employment complaints from pregnant women.

Consumer goods and services ranks third among enquiries, followed by disability benefits.But Bremner said this ranking reflected the current society, and was likely to keep changing in the future.

'We don't have a disproportionate number of asylum seekers phoning us for advice,' she said. 'But as the government's dispersal programme continues, I think we can expect more calls from this section of the community.'