Citizens Advice Scotland has reported a substantial increase in people seeking support on redundancy

Demand for redundancy advice has spiked as the UK enters an unprecedented recession.

The Citizens Advice network in Scotland is seeing soaring demand for redundancy advice, new figures have shown, as the UK enters its first recession in 11 years.

The figures show a 191% increase in the number of pieces of redundancy advice given by the 59 bureaux between April and July.

The network advised people on redundancy 543 times in April, and that figure soared to 1,584 times in July.

In total, almost 2,000 (1,878) people have sought redundancy advice from the network between April and July.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) is encouraging people to seek advice from local bureaux or online during the crisis.

The charity is also calling on the chancellor to be flexible in winding down the furlough scheme and extend it for at risk sectors and areas if necessary.

CAS chief executive Derek Mitchell said: “It’s essential that governments and policy makers take the right steps to protect people from the economic storm ahead.

“Households across the country will be facing a financial cliff edge as furlough winds down in the autumn. We want to see flexibility from the Chancellor so people aren’t pushed into unsustainable financial insecurity.

“The Citizens Advice network in Scotland has seen a huge increase in demand for redundancy advice during the pandemic and we can only see that demand increasing in the months the ahead.

“Our message to the people of Scotland is that we are here to help you through this crisis. Our CABs haven’t missed a beat during the pandemic and are there for everyone to get free, independent and confidential advice.”