Tag: Citizens Advice Edinburgh

More voices speak out against devastating EIJB funding cuts

EDINBURGH INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD PLANS TO END £4.5 million GRANTS TO 63 COMUNITY PROJECTS

SCOTTISH COUNCIL of VOLUNTARY ORGANIATIONS (SCVO)

SCVO response to proposal by Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board to remove grant-funding from voluntary organisations:

Letter to Councillor Cammy Day, Leader of City of Edinburgh Council,

Professor John Connaghan OBE, Chair of NHS Lothian 

cc Pat Togher, Chief Officer EIJB

Proposal by Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board to remove grant-funding from voluntary organisations  

I am writing to add SCVO’s voice to the protests regarding the IJB’s proposal to withdraw funding in-year from charities and community groups. 37 of our members are impacted by this decision. 

The intention outlined in the board paper to take a more strategic and collaborative approach in the future has been totally undermined by the impact of reneging on this year’s grant funding.

Trust is a fragile thing, and it will take a long time to rebuild any sense that the council and the health board have an understanding of, or respect for, the voluntary organisations that do so much to support our communities.

When you look to build your strategic partnership in 2025, many of them simply won’t be there because they will have gone out of business. 

Far from saving money, this will generate significant costs to public services as people fall through the cracks, and the additional millions of pounds voluntary organisations bring in from trusts and foundations or the private sector through match funding and other fundraising activities will disappear. A truly strategic approach would be looking to maximise that income-generation, not cut it off. 

It appears that over 100 people who were already in a precarious enough position will lose their jobs. And the discretionary effort of hundreds more volunteers will be lost. 

It is evident that when money is tight, which I recognise it is, the council and the health board have retrenched and focused on short-term savings rather than the public good.

The table in the board paper which illustrates where the money could be “better spent” says it all – to the IJB, acute services matter more than prevention or early intervention. As well as being short-sighted ethically and financially, it flies in the face of all the evidence around what communities need and the rhetoric around person-centred services and prevention.  

I would urge you to intervene and stop the IJB making a decision everyone involved will regret. 

Yours sincerely,

Anna Fowlie
Chief Executive, SCVO

BIG HEARTS: “The value the charity sector brings to our local communities should never be in doubt.”

VOLUNTARY HEALTH SCOTLAND:

VHS Chief Executive @MistryTej has commented on the recent cuts being proposed by Edinburgh IJB.

What will it take for recognition of the crucial work the third sector are doing to reduce health inequalities?

#WEAREVITAL

VOLUNTEER EDINBURGH:

Along with the rest of the sector we are extremely concerned by the proposed early cessation of EIJB grant funding to 64 voluntary sector organisations.  As well as the loss of important services and the associated job losses, this will impact volunteering.

Volunteers are at the heart of the affected organisations, contributing 206,000 hours of support to people in the community worth over £2m. These volunteering opportunities are not only a lifeline to people they help support.

They also enable local people to be active in their communities, build confidence, develop skills, reduce isolation – all of which contribute to better health outcomes for volunteers themselves.

The impact of the loss of these volunteering opportunities cannot be understated.

LIVING RENT:

64 charities are at the risk of closure due to £4.5 million worth of proposed cuts. This will have devastating effects for tenants, for workers and for communities across Edinburgh.

Let’s defend our community centres, services & jobs.

Join us to say NO to Labour-led cuts!

SCOTT ARTHUR MP:

I have today (Wednesday) written to the Cheif (sic) Officer of the EIJB opposing the proposed cuts to the third sector in my constituency – I expressed my concerns in the strongest possible terms.

I support @cllrcammyday fully in his call for fair funding for Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Integration Joint Board meets TOMORROW (Friday 1 December) in the Dean of Guilds Room at The City Chambers at 10am.

The following organisations will make their case against the cuts at the meeting:

Papers for the meeting are below:

EIJB-Public reports pack 01112024Download

Families urged to talk about social security payments

Support highlighted during Challenge Poverty Week

Families and friends have a crucial role to play in ensuring Scotland’s social security payments reach those who need them most.

On a visit to a Citizens Advice Bureau, as part of Challenge Poverty Week, Social Security Minister Ben Macpherson said talking about benefits would help drive take-up and reduce stigma about accessing benefits. The Scottish Government urges people to make sure they get the benefits they are entitled to.

These payments provide support to people on low incomes, people with disabilities, carers, and young people entering the workplace.

During the visit to the Citizens Advice Bureau in Muirhouse, Mr Macpherson met staff and volunteers who provide information and advice about available financial assistance and wider support.

Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson said: “We are urging as many people as possible to talk to family, friends and other people they know to encourage them to apply for benefits they may be entitled to. We want people to get any support that they are eligible for.

“We know that word of mouth helps to raise awareness of Social Security Scotland’s payments, and those provided by the UK Government which may be needed to access Scottish benefits. We also want anyone who thinks they might be eligible for payments to check what’s available to them.

“While several of our payments are designed for people on low incomes there are also others which provide support to disabled people, young people starting their careers after a period of unemployment, and carers including young carers.

“Social security is a shared investment in people and supports building a fairer, more equal society. The current cost of living crisis shows that any of us could need this support at some point in our lives. That is why it is right that we invest in social security together.

“The Scottish Government is grateful for the impactful role that Citizens Advice advisers play in promoting and supporting access to social security.”

The Scottish Government’s new website provides information on the wide range of advice and financial support available.

Find out more at http://gov.scot/costoflivingsupport…

Citizens Advice Edinburgh Chief Executive Benjamin Napier said: “The Citizens Advice network in Scotland encourages everyone to check that they are receiving the income they are entitled to.

“Every year, millions of pounds of welfare entitlement go unclaimed. At a time of increasing costs and pressures on household budgets, we strongly encourage people to get in touch with their local Citizens Advice Bureau or use our online tools like www.moneymap.scot to see if they could be receiving more money.

“Last year the CAB network across Scotland helped over 174,000 people and 2.4 million people checked our online advice pages. 

“Advice from CABs is free, impartial and confidential. We never charge people for advice and are for everyone regardless of background or circumstance. Social Security Scotland have 12 new benefits and we want to make sure everyone knows their rights of access them.”

#ChallengePovertyWeek

GRANTON Information Centre remains committed to tackling the injustice of poverty in Edinburgh. We do this by:

* Ensure that our service users are getting all the financial assistance they are entitled to by carrying out ‘benefit checks’ and ‘income maximisation’ appointments

* Assisting our clients to make benefits claims and apply for grants on their behalf

* Assisting our service users to challenge decisions if their benefit has been stopped/ sanctioned/ reduced/ refused or overpaid

* Discuss various options with our clients who are struggling to cope with debt, including liaising with lenders and arranging bankruptcies

* Organising food and clothing bank referrals.

We are here to help! Contact us: appointments@gic.org.uk / 0131 551 2459 / 0131 552 0458

#ChallengePovertyWeek

Partnership helps communities cope with financial difficulties amid cost-of-living crisis

  • Royal Bank of Scotland and Citizens Advice Edinburgh are working together to provide debt support and advice to customers locally and across the UK, with over 2,100 referrals since October 2020.
  • Edinburgh based advisers assist in instances where Royal Bank believes that Citizens Advice could offer support that addresses a root cause of financial vulnerability.
  • Previous Citizens Advice research found that 1 in 10 families – about 3 million UK households – faced a cost-of-living crisis, unable to cover even basic bills such as food and heating.

Royal Bank of Scotland is today announcing the launch of a report in partnership with Citizens Advice, focusing on support for vulnerable customers. There have been over 2,100 referrals from NatWest and Royal Bank to Citizens Advice since the programme started in October 2020.

Citizen Advice advisers based in Edinburgh have supported teams from across Royal Bank by providing a referral service for customers who contact the bank and express difficulty with debt, benefits, relationships and family.

The advisers assist in instances where Royal Bank believes that Citizens Advice could offer support that addresses a root cause of financial vulnerability.

The project has successfully helped customers across Scotland with complex financial issues and continues until September 2022, by which time NatWest and Royal Bank expect to have helped over 4,000 people with complex financial advice needs. This service is available across NatWest, Royal Bank and Ulster Bank.

The latest report details the impact of the pilot one year on. It found that:

  • There have been over 2,100 referrals from NatWest and Royal Bank to Citizens Advice since the programme started in October 2020 with the numbers increasing month on month.
  • Over half (59%) of the referrals were from customers who had not accessed Citizens Advice before
  • 86% of customers were over 35, compared to the Citizens Advice overall base of 73%
  • The top three problems leading to referral are debt (62%), benefits (32%) and relationships (18%)

The report is released as millions of people face up to rising household costs. Previous Citizens Advice research has revealed:

·                     1 in 10 UK families – about 3 million households – were facing a cost-of-living crunch this winter, unable to cover even basic bills such as food and heating.

·                     1 in 5 of all adults are cutting back on food shopping or turning off the heating, while 1 in 10 anticipate needing to use food banks.

Benjamin Napier, Chief Executive Officer at Citizens Advice Edinburgh said: “We are committed to giving people the knowledge and confidence they need to find their way forward – whoever they are, and whatever they need.

“Together with Royal Bank of Scotland we have been able to help people in the most vulnerable situations in our society across Scotland. The programme is an important way for us to reach more people who may need our help and might not have known about our services.”

David Lindberg, CEO, Retail Banking at NatWest Group said: “Through our partnership with Citizens Advice, we want to deliver personalised support to our most vulnerable customers. Many people who come to us for support have complex financial issues which impact their lives.

“In this current economic environment, it’s more important now than ever to be able to intervene when customers experience early signs of financial difficulty and help them to improve their financial capability.’’

Stephen Timms MP said: “It’s important that people have organisations they can turn to for support when experiencing financial difficulty.

“As we continue to recover from the pandemic and changes to the cost-of-living cause people to experience complex problems they may not have experienced before, it is encouraging that organisations such as NatWest Group and Citizens Advice are working together to meet the wider advice and support needs of vulnerable customers.”

You can access the full report here: Strengthening the safety net: supporting NatWest Group’s most vulnerable customers

Strenghtening-support-RBS-CABDownload

Local MSPs open new Resource Centre

Northern and Leith MSP Ben Macpherson performed the official opening of  Citizens Advice Edinburgh’s new North Edinburgh Community Resource Centre on Pennywell Road this morning. The Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development will be joined by local Edinburgh West MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton. Continue reading Local MSPs open new Resource Centre