3. FRSC Focus on Advice
Renfrewshire Council · 25 March 2026
Back to Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-committee — 25 March 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 OFFICIAL ________________________________________________________________________ To: Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee On: 25th March 2026 _____________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive _____________________________________________________________________ Heading: Focus on: Advice in Renfrewshire ________________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1. Further to discussion at Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee in January, it was a suggested that further detail was brought to sub-committee with a focus on the provision of advice services across Renfrewshire, and to invite key local providers of advice services to share insights around the experiences of households in Renfrewshire. 1.2. This paper provides an overview of current provision of advice services across Renfrewshire, as well as actions being progressed as part of the Fairer Renfrewshire Action Plan. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that members of the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee: • Note the content of the report 3. Background 3.1. A key priority within the Fairer Renfrewshire Action Plan is ‘Improving Financial Security’, which focussed on supporting households to increase income and reduce essential costs, tackling the root causes of poverty. Many actions in this theme build on Renfrewshire’s long-standing commitment to addressing poverty, alongside recent coordinated efforts to mitigate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.
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2 OFFICIAL 3.2. The Action Plan recognises that Renfrewshire has a strong network of services across the public and third sectors aimed at improving financial security, with innovative interventions for priority groups. These efforts deliver real impact - local advice services helped put over £17 million back into residents’ pockets in 2024/25. However, demand continues to rise, and services can be oversubscribed. Residents tell us that navigating support can be challenging, as provision is fragmented and sometimes tied to short-term funding. 3.3. As part of this priority, there are five actions focussed on improving access to income advice and support: • Ensure the provision of money and benefits advice • Coordinate Advice Partnership Renfrewshire to streamline provision • Identify need and increase outreach for advice services • Promote Family Advice Pathway across Council services and Advice Partnership • Continue targeted income maximisation for low-income families with children 3.4. This report provides further detail on work currently being undertaken to deliver these actions across Renfrewshire. 4. Improving access to income advice and support Ensure the provision of money and benefits advice 4.1. The core provision of money and benefits advice in Renfrewshire is provided in two main ways, the Advice Works service based within Renfrewshire Council, and commissioned external advice services provided by Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau (RCAB). 4.2. Both RCAB and Advice Works are experiencing higher levels of initial contacts than in previous years. Although full data for 2025/26 is not yet available, the trend of increased contacts has continued throughout the first three quarters of the year. 4.3. Further information is provided below on client demand and service outcomes for both Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau and for Advice Works. It should be noted that while both provide key money and benefits advice services across Renfrewshire, they do provide different services and statistics may not be directly comparable across the two providers. Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau 4.4. As part of these arrangements, RCAB provide both a general and a legal advice service to Renfrewshire residents. The Council also separately fund Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau to provide a Welfare Rights service. 4.5. As reported within the Fairer Renfrewshire update paper, officers are currently working on contract arrangements with RCAB for July 2026 onwards. This will be submitted to Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board for approval in June 2026.
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3 OFFICIAL 4.6. For RCAB, the number of contacts in 2024/25 is 6.9% higher than in 2022/23, although the number of appointments required following contact dropped by 13.7%. 4.7. With respect to the RCAB general advice service, the most popular matter people seek advice for is Social Security Benefits/Tax Credits/NI followed by Other and then Debt (non-housing). The “Other” category can include consumer, discrimination, education, health and community care, relationships, tax, travel, transport and holidays within General Advice. 4.8. Immigration, Asylum and Nationality cases have shown the biggest increase in 2024/25 compared to 2022/23 with a 91.9% increase. Housing cases have increased by 20.2% with debt cases increasing by 16%. On the other hand, Financial Products and Services cases have fallen by 56.1%. The Legal Service has seen an increase in Homelessness cases of 107.7% although Housing has seen a drop of 40%. Other significant changes are increases to employment (60.9%), disability (33.3%) and debt (22.5%) cases, with welfare rights (-44.4%), other (-36.7%) and community care (-20%) cases showing reductions. 4.9. Key client outcomes monitored for the RCAB general advice service are client financial gain, and the new cases within debt under management. • The Client Financial Gain in 2024/25 was £2,483,019 in 2024/25, compared to £2,099,325 in 2023/24 and £1,807,916 in 2022/23. • The Debt Under Management was £3,211,610 in 2024/25, £2,522,492 in 2023/24 and £2,120,139 in 2022/23. Advice Works 4.10. The types of cases that Advice Works assist with fall in a narrower group, compared to RCAB, due to the nature of the service. Primarily, the two areas of support provided fall under money advice (debt/rent arrears), or welfare rights advice (benefits, discretionary payments etc). Advice Works can signpost or refer for other areas of support required from a query, for instance housing, employment and immigration. 4.11. Key client outcomes monitored for the Advice Works service are client financial gain, either from new claims or mandatory reconsiderations and debt under management. • The total client financial gain was £14,066,215 in 2024/25, compared to £10,682,437 in 2023/24, and £15,968,284 in 2022/23 • The Debt Under Management was £12,222,768 in 2024/25, £3,459,609 in 2023/24 and £1,169,891 in 2022/23. 4.12. The numbers choosing a debt strategy (equivalent to reaching a debt solution) has increased by 216% in 2024/25 compared to 2022/23, with the total debt under management increasing by 945% comparing the same period. The total debts under management in 2024/25 has significantly increased compared to 2022/23 with almost 1/3 of the debt in 2024/25 being categorised as “Credit Card” debt.
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4 OFFICIAL Coordinate Advice Partnership Renfrewshire to streamline provision 4.13. Officers work with a wide range of partners across Renfrewshire involved in the provision of advice services, and a key mechanism for this is the Advice Partnership Renfrewshire. The partnership is chaired by the Council and comprised of a wide range of partners including; Advice Works, RCAB, Social Security Scotland, NHS GGC, Renfrewshire HSCP and various other local third sector organisations as well as Improving the Cancer Journey. 4.14. The Advice Partnership meets on a bi-monthly basis to share local service updates and information, as well as having guest presentations on new and emerging areas of interest. Identify need and increase outreach for advice services 4.15. Both Advice Works and RCAB provide outreach services as part of their service provision, and services work together to coordinate outreach and avoid duplication, while looking at provision across Renfrewshire. 4.16. Currently advice outreach is offered in a number of locations, with RCAB sessions including Renfrew Library, Bishopton Cornerstone and Active Communities Pantry in Johnstone. Over the last month, Advice Works have agreed to provide an outreach service in STAR Project, while RCAB are considering locations for further outreach to start in April. Promote Family Advice Pathway across Council services and Advice Partnership 4.17. Officers have been working to develop a family advice pathway to increase and streamline referrals to advice provision for families. To simplify the available advice streams, a family advice pathway was created to illustratively bring together the School Support Service, Family Advice Service, including what was previously Healthier Wealthier Children and emergency support under an overarching family advice picture in Renfrewshire. The pathway shows a clear and concise route to the appropriate advice provider and their contact details, depending on what support each family needs at that point in time. 4.18. The family advice pathway has been circulated amongst the Whole Family Wellbeing team to provide quick reference material on the available support for families that are experiencing money and/or debt worries, including urgent issues. In addition, the pathway has been presented to the Advice Partnership, and subsequently circulated, to strengthen the awareness of the pathway ensuring a consistency of signposting, advice and referrals. 4.19. Officers will attend the “All Sectors Head of Establishment” meeting scheduled for 26th of March to further promote advice services, primarily the Family Advice Service from Advice Works and Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau’s School Support Service. The benefits of financial advice will be discussed along with highlighting the recent statistics around client financial gains and successful outcomes. This should encourage school staff and Head Teachers to recognise potential signs of a family having money and debt worries, and how to appropriately refer families for advice and support.
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5 OFFICIAL Continue targeted income maximisation for low-income families with children 4.20. The Council are involved in a number of projects and initiatives to provide targeted income maximisation for low-income families with children, aligned to the Council’s focus on tackling child poverty. 4.21. The Family Advice Service is provided by Advice Works for families with children from birth throughout primary school. This also includes the ‘Healthier, Wealthier Children’ work which provides income advice to families from birth, with developed pathways with health visitors and other services such as GPs, hospital services and social work. 4.22. The Schools Support Service is provided by Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau for families with children in secondary education and within the Council’s two ASN schools. This service is embedded within schools. 4.23. The Council also work in partnership with Renfrewshire HSCP and Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau to support delivery of the Stronger Start project. Stronger Start is an advice and advocacy project provided to women in Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde on the Blossom maternity pathway. This includes women who may be navigating mental health challenges; housing insecurity or homelessness; financial hardship; involvement with social work services; experiences with alcohol or drug use; or the impacts of gender based violence, as well as women who have become parents at a younger age. 4.24. The project is funded by the National Lottery Improving Lives Fund and is delivered by Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau. It is funded until January 2027. 4.25. The project was subject to an external evaluation in 2025, which stated “Overall, the evaluation has demonstrated the effectiveness of the Stronger Start project in improving the circumstances and outlook for vulnerable pregnant women, including effecting significant measurable financial gains, and taking a holistic approach to identifying needs, providing advice and support, advocating on their behalf, and working collaboratively with service users to achieve goals. For a client group recognised as being harder to reach and less likely to engage with services, the project is providing much needed support, with pregnancy being an optimal time for providing an opportunity for intervention. Service users’ views have been very positive, and there was clear gratitude for the project, the support they received and the dedication of the project staff. The project is meeting needs that are not being met elsewhere. The description by some service users of the project as a ‘lifeline’ appears apt. The evaluation highlighted some examples of service users for whom the project made a hugely positive difference in very drastic circumstances, and without the support of the project, it is clear that outcomes could have been catastrophic.” 5. Next steps 5.1. It is recognised that advice plays a key role in supporting households through challenging financial circumstances. In the coming months, Advice Works and RCAB will look to further
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6 OFFICIAL coordinate services to reach those who face barriers in accessing advice and to encourage clients to engage earlier and obtain advice before crisis point is reached. This includes the production of marketing materials in different languages, as well as a review of outreach to ensure best reach. 5.2. Services will also support clients to access other support available, including crisis support such as energy advice and food supports. 5.3. As part of the Fairer Renfrewshire Plan, both Advice Works and RCAB will support the Connected Communities team to gain further understanding and with the development required to improve pathways and supports for those in financial crisis – especially those with chronic low income. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – There are no financial implications associated with this report, which provides an overview of advice services provided in Renfrewshire. 2. HR & Organisational Development – none 3. Community/Council Planning – The provision of advice services is a key part of the Council’s Fairer Renfrewshire agenda, which directly delivers against the fairness themes and priorities at the heart of both the Council and Community Plan. 4. Legal - none 5. Property/Assets - none 6. Information Technology - none 7. Equality and Human Rights – The provision of advice services has a positive impact on equalities groups across Renfrewshire, who are in many cases overrepresented within lower income groups. This report provides information for noting and as such there are no equalities implications arising from the recommendations. 8. Health and Safety - none 9. Procurement – none 10. Risk – none 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. COSLA Policy Position – none 13. Climate Risk – none
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7 OFFICIAL 14. Children’s Rights – The provision of advice services supports a number of children’s rights, particularly those related to the survival and development of children and for the provision of their basic needs. The report also provides specific information about how advice services are targeted to families with children. This report provides information for noting and as such there are no children’s rights implications arising from the recommendations. Author: Annabelle Walter, Connected Communities Manager