Charity warns pandemic response will ‘define the next decade’

Redundancy accounted for 18% of all employment advice given by Citizens Advice Scotland in the first three weeks of June.

STV News

2nd Jul 2020

The Government response to the coronavirus crisis will be “vital for defining the next decade”, Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) warned as it reported an increase in the number of people seeking advice on redundancy.

The charity’s latest weekly report said people were issued with such advice 907 times from the 59 bureaux across the country in the first three weeks of June.

In comparison, there were 543 occasions of redundancy advice being sought in the whole of April, and 679 in May.

Redundancy accounted for 18% of all employment advice given in that June period, while the May figure was 12%.

In February, the figure was 9%.

The CAS online advice page helping people check if their redundancy is fair was viewed 224 times in the week beginning June 15.

The same page received just 46 views on average per week in February.

CAS social justice spokeswoman Mhoraig Green said: “This is a stark increase in demand for advice around redundancy, it’s clear that the economic impact of Covid-19 is being felt now.

“There is a real risk this impact becomes even worse in the months to come without an ambitious policy response.

“The response from Government in the weeks and months ahead will be vital for defining the next decade.