MORE than 600 worried residents sought emergency help last year from Dumfries and Galloway’s Citizens’ Advice Bureau (CAS) after racking up debts totalling £7.5m.
The average amount of debt accrued by these individuals was £11,295.
One third of them could barely pay for heating and electricity in their home; and a quarter were struggling to make council tax payments.
Christine Sinclair, operations manager for Dumfries and Galloway CAS, confirmed that last year the organisation assisted 664 clients with £7.5m of total debt.
She said: “This shows that debt is still a big issue. It continues to impact on people every day, and it’s not just about people using credit cards or taking out loans.
“Twenty-five percent of the clients that come to us are struggling to pay their council tax; 32 per cent are struggling to heat and light their house; and 12 percent are in arrears with rent.
“This shows that the debt isn’t just about people taking on loans and credit cards.
“These stats show that we’re able to help a lot of clients, but the downside for people is that the demand for our services very much exceeds our capacity.
“And although clients are triaged as quickly as possible when they make initial contact with us, and any emergency situations are dealt with, it can take up to two weeks to receive the full advice that they need.”
Meanwhile CAS chief executive Phil Stewart said: “We triage each and every case that comes in so those that are the essentials – getting evicted tomorrow or being sequestrated today or whatever else – they’ll be done first.
“Thereafter, based on priority or urgency, that’ll dictate when others will be seen.”
At last Thursday’s council meeting, Annandale North Councillor Lynne Davis said: “I know from working with citizens’ advice for many years in my career what a worthwhile service it is.
“People find a lot of comfort in coming to get advice and assistance.”
