MSPs mark Challenge Poverty Week

MSPs from Holyrood’s Social Security Committee have called on people across Scotland to claim benefits they are entitled to through a phone line service offered by Citizens Advice Scotland.

To help mark Challenge Poverty Week (7-13 October), Bob Doris MSP and Alasdair Allan MSP met with staff and customers at the Glasgow North West Citizens Advice Bureau in Maryhill.

During the visit, the Committee were given details about a Financial Health Check offered by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS). This service talks claimants through the benefits they may be eligible for and helps to ensure they receive any income they are entitled to.

The visit was also part of the Social Security Committee’s ongoing inquiry into benefit uptake. This inquiry seeks to find out the potential barriers to benefit take-up and how the current system could be improved.

Bob Doris MSP, Convener of the Social Security Committee, said: “As we mark Challenge Poverty Week, we’ve heard first-hand the positive impact that Citizen Advice Scotland’s Financial Health Check can have on people, helping to ensure they do not miss out on money they are entitled to.

“That’s why we’d encourage anyone who is not sure of whether they are eligible for a benefit to call the CAS advice line.

“We’d like to thank staff at Glasgow North West Citizens Advice Bureau and their clients for sharing their experiences with us, which will undoubtedly help inform the Committee’s ongoing inquiry into benefit uptake.

“Our inquiry’s call for views is still open and we are particularly keen to hear from those with direct experience of the benefits system, hearing their ideas as to how to remove barriers to claiming and how to help improve uptake.”

The Social Security’s Committee call for views on benefit take-up is open until Monday 21 October.

The number for CAS’s free advice line is 0800 085 7145.

More information on Challenge Poverty Week can be found here.