Welcome to the home page of Hamilton Citizens Advice Bureau. Hamilton CAB is a member of the Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. It is a charity and relies on the volunteers who give up their time to give advice to anyone who needs it.

This website has been developed to help the people of Hamilton to resolve some of their queries online. You can find out a wide variety of information, including details about your MP, useful websites and can read a number of features which deal with some of the problems which are brought to us by visitors. You can also contact an advisor directly from the website, or view the online advice provided by Adviceguide.

If you don't find what you are looking for, or need more advice, don't hesitate to drop in and speak to one of our friendly advisors. Click here for details on opening times and how to get in touch.

The latest annual report from Hamilton CAB is now available online. Click here for the report containing articles by CAB volunteers and details of the past year's work.

The CAB is looking for people willing to help out. Click here for details.

Latest News

13/04/07 - Gender equality duty for public authorities
The Equality Act 2006 amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, so that public authorities have a duty to promote gender equality and to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment on grounds of sex. Until this date, it has only been up to individuals to show that they have been discriminated against. These changes put an additional responsibility on a public authority to promote gender equality.
'Public authority' has a wide definition and includes arts organisations, museums, TV companies, government departments, the police, the armed forces, governing bodies of schools and colleges maintained by local authorities, the NHS, and local authorities.
In addition to the general duty, there are specific duties for public authorities in England, Wales and Scotland. There are also Codes of Practice for England and Wales, and for Scotland, about how duties must be met. More detailed information is available on the Equal Opportunities Commission website at www.eoc.org.uk.

13/04/07 - Consumer Credit Act 2006
Some provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 2006 come into force on 6 April.
These are:-
the extortionate credit provisions are replaced by a new, wider ‘unfair relationship’ test which will apply to all consumer credit agreements made on or after 6 April 2007. Agreements made before 6 April 2007 will continue to be covered by the extortionate credit provisions until 6 April 2008
the court will have discretion in considering whether a relationship between a debtor and creditor is unfair and will be able to award a variety of remedies, rather than simply declaring an agreement unenforceable
no credit agreements will be automatically unforceable, but will instead be subject to the discretion of the court.
the Financial Ombudsman Service will extend its jurisdiction to include all consumer credit businesses, which means all businesses which have a credit licence, including finance companies, credit brokers, companies offering debt adjustment and debt counselling, debt collectors and companies providing credit information and credit reference agencies.

07/02/07 - Reduced fares for young people
From 8 January 2007, young people are entitled to reduced fares on buses, trains and ferries in Scotland. This will only apply to young people aged 16 to 18 and to full-time volunteers up to the age of 25.
Young people will be entitled to:-
a third off single bus fares across Scotland
a free Scottish Youth Rail Card, which cuts a third off all train fares
two free return ferry journeys to the mainland each year (for young people who live on an island).
Young people need to apply for a national entitlement card in order to access the scheme. Local authorities are responsible for dealing with the application process and arrangements will vary across Scotland. Application forms may be given out in schools, libraries or in local council offices. Young people should contact their local authority or alternatively they can phone the Young Scot InfoLine on 0808 801 0338 (open 12 noon to 8pm, Monday to Friday). More information is available on the Young Scot website at www.youngscot.org/smartcards/

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