Impact of local authority funding of money and welfare rights advice services
To cope with the predicted increase in demand, being able to access good quality advice services through a range of venues and channels will be critical.
However, to ensure that money and welfare rights services are sustained will require an acceptance and understanding that they need to form a key element in measures designed to support economic recovery and reduce poverty.
To try to identify the impact on money and welfare rights services as a result of potential reductions in local authority budgets for 2023-24 we approached advice leads in all 32 Scottish local authorities.
Read the findings:
[PDF] Impact of Local Authority Funding of Money and Welfare Rights Advice Services in 2023/24
Advice in accessible settings
Scottish local authorities are one of the main funders of money and welfare rights advice services in Scotland - investing around £24.8 million in 2021-22.
We have reported on the multiple benefits delivered by offering access to money and welfare rights advice in locations that individuals already frequent and in which they feel safe and connected. Such locations are non-stigmatising and access to advice services can often be signposted or a referral by a trusted intermediary. Most obvious of these are educational and primary care health settings.
We sought to identify and highlight the ways in which local authority funded services in Scotland are delivering advice in accessible settings and their plans for future development. The report demonstrates the diversity of approaches taken to make advice services more engaging and easier for individuals to access.
Download the report:
[PDF] Advice in Accessible Settings, Feb 2023
The impact on advice service users of increasing the use of digital access routes
The ways people accessed advice services also altered - although not always as a result of personal choice. Further research carried out confirmed that many of the digital routes on offer continued, and indeed were enhanced.
Download the report:
[PDF] The impact on advice service users of increasing the use of digital access routes, Sep 2022
Impact of COVID-19 on local authority funded money and welfare rights advice services
The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the way local authority funded money and welfare rights advice services were provided. To identify in detail what this meant for both the providers and users of money and welfare rights advice services, our Evaluation and Research teams surveyed all 32 Scottish local authorities.
Download the report:
[PDF] Impact of COVID-19 on local authority funded money and welfare rights advice services, Oct 2020