'Staggering' rise in calls to Perth Citizens Advice as residents juggle cost of living priorities

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Worries about the cost of living has prompted Perthshire residents to reach out for urgent assistance - with Perth Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) accepting a “staggering” 40 per cent rise in demand for its services.

Jane Adams, chief executive officer for Perth CAB, tweeted on Friday that the service was busy with calls and noted: “That’s another week finished and the team have had nearly 600 contacts with clients in the past five days.” Yesterday, she told the PA of the rise in calls for help, specifically callers voicing alarm over bills for gas, electric, fuel and water.She looked back over the last month: “This May we supported over 1000 individuals and had a 40 per cent increase in client contacts compared to May 2021.“This includes a 40 per cent increase in people presenting with debt issues and a staggering 260 per cent increase in clients presenting with issues with their utilities.

While the price of energy, petrol, diesel and food have soared in recent months, it’s important to understand that households on low incomes were struggling with their costs beforehand.“But people don’t have to feel alone or powerless as costs rise.“The CAB network has been helping people for over 80 years and we recently launched a new project to provide dedicated, specialist advisers to support those worried about energy costs and we have a team of dedicated money advice and debt workers.“Our free, confidential and impartial advice unlocked around £4.4 million for people last year through social security payments, employment entitlements, debt reductions and other support.“We’d like to see policymakers focus on ways to get more money into people’s pockets, but we’re here to help people now so would urge anyone struggling to please