Personal debt levels in the Highlands have soared to more than £20million.
The figure was revealed yesterday to councillors, with council officials blaming Westminster’s welfare reforms.
They were also told yesterday that the local authority and the region’s Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) had seen a 40% annual increase – to 90,000 people – in numbers seeking urgent help.
The council is spending almost £2million this year alone on advice services.
Updating members of the Ross, Skye and Cromarty area committee, meeting in Dingwall, benefits and welfare manager Sheila McKandie said: “We are seeing a significant increase in the number of issues, mainly as a result of welfare reform.
“Significant debts are coming forward and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
“These debts are from various sources. They can be rent arrears, council tax arrears. They can be with catalogues, different supermarkets, insurance companies.
“We also help people gain benefits to the tune of £17million, so it’s quite significant the amount of money that’s going back into the economy as a result of the work that the council is funding.”
Dingwall and Seaforth independent councillor Margaret Paterson defended “every penny spent” on advice centres.
“I don’t know how we could survive without them,” she said.
Among colleagues echoing the sentiment was Skye and Raasay SNP member Ian Renwick, who praised the efforts of CAB volunteers and staff.
No-one from the Treasury was available for comment yesterday.
Inverness CAB manager Alasdair Christie said: “We now also open on Saturdays and have increased the number of outreaches with the opening of an office in Grantown.
“We have increased the number of paid staff, but we are not coping with the demand upon us. We’re running beyond capacity.
“We are concerned about the demand. We see an increase with problems that are destroying people’s lives and impacting their health. We’re also concerned about the potential cuts that advice agencies are facing, driven by central government.”
On average, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey CAB sees 50 people per day.
More than half the cases relate to welfare reform and involve people with a disability.
According to the CAB, many of those clients have challenges that prevent them from working.
A third of clients are concerned about debt. The remainder have housing and employment issues.
The service has increased its Inverness staff from 25 two years ago to 39, to try to cope with demand.