I am a secure tenant of a social housing landlord in Scotland and have been so for fifteen years, at the same address throughout. I am the sole tenant, I do not sub-let or keep lodger(s), however for the last three plus years I have allowed a friend to stay with me in the property as my "guest" (for want of a more appororiate term), and it has been their sole and only home throughout that period. The landlord has been aware of their presence at the address throughout, and has not objected or attempted to have them removed. Following almost three years of a difficult and steadily deteriorating relationship between myself and the landlord, relating to other matters unrelated to my co-habitee, my landlord has now served a summons for eviction on me. I'm disputing it in court on the ground of the landlords unreasonable expectations and demands, but quite frankly only rather half-heartedly as I realise and accept that even if I win, our tenant/landlord relationship is untenanble in anything more than the very short term on account of our various difficulties over the last three years. Essentially I'm none to bothered whether I win or lose, as I'm going to have to move on sooner rather than later anyway, and while I'd rather have a bit more time and wait until circumstances were somewhat better to move on, if I have to make do with what alternative accomodation I can arrange right now, so be it. My co-habitee's situation is however rather different. Having been a resident at the address for three years and known to the landlord as such throughout that period, I am given to understand they have the status of a "qualifying occupier", and as such have a right under legislation for the Court to be taken in to consideration upon what the impact would be on them should an eviction of the tenant be granted. How I, or my co-habitee goes about making the Court aware of their circumstances and the impact of my eviction on them as a resident at my address is where my questions lie, as obtaining information on this seems almost impossible to locate. So far we have been led to believe that for their interests to be considered by the Court, they need to apply to be "sisted" to the Summons - however the flip side of being sisted, or at least one of them, is that they, at the Sheriff's discretion can then be made liable for some/all?? of the sum of money my landlord is seeking in connection with my eviction. Is this the only "down" side (for them) in being "sisted" to the summons, or are there other potential negative issues? Is it absolutely necessary that they be "sisted" for them to be able to address/inform the Court of how they will be affected by granting my eviction - To me anyway, it seems strange that the legislation appears to say that the Court is obliged to consider them anyway, that they need to be pro-active in making sure the information for the Court to be able to do so is in front of the Court, and, have to run the risk of being held responsible for a monetary sum, when in effect they are an innocent and uninvolved party who just happens to going to be losing out whatever happens , in a dispute between a landlord and tenant.

Hello there.... advice sought please. I have been working for an agency for 14 weeks now on minimum wage, I am aware that after 12 weeks in the same job you should be entitled to the same wage as permanent staff in a comparable position. So, I emailed my agency contact and this was the reply: "I was passed an email from you with regards to parity rates when you have worked your 12th week. Your friend is right to some degree, if a client has a person who works the same job on a fulltime contract with the same job specification then you would be entitled to earn the same wage as the fulltime member of staff. However with (name removed) this is not the case as we do not have a comparator so as a result there is nobody to match your wage against so you would stay at the same rate of pay I’m afraid." Fair enough you might say but I'm doing the exact same job as the guy who gets paid a lot more than me to do it!!! What I'm asking then is, is there anything I can do about it? My fear is that they will suddenly find I am no longer suitable for the job if I make a fuss about it. I am looking for permanent work but in the meantime I don't want to find myself on the dole for being a "troublemaker", and to be honest I rather like this job. It would just be nice to get a living wage from it. Thanks in advance and apologies if I have posted in the wrong place xx

Hi. Just looking for some advice on claiming PIP (Personal Independence Payment). I'm confused regarding the so-called 'qualifying period'. I've read that it's 3 months minimum that a person has been affected by a disability. But it seems as if you don't need to wait when making a fresh claim. I've been diagnosed with a condition for only a few weeks, but the Dr has agreed to provide ongoing Fit Notes (as she's aware of an ongoing claim for ESA). Do I have to wait until 3 months have lapsed to make a claim? Or can I start the ball rolling now? Many thanks.

Hello everyone I am hoping someone will be able to answer my question regarding my mortgage payments while I am on JSA. Here is my dilemma. I was made redundant last year after 22 years as a civil servant. I received JSA contribution based for the maximum six months and have since been receiving JSA income based. I recently started to receive payments of my mortgage interest from the DWP. I have been offer a job - albeit a part time temporary job which will finish in January. My dilemma is will I have to wait nine months again before I can receive my mortgage interest payments again or is there a linking period between my two claims as I will have only been employed for around 4 months. I am reluctant to take a part time job if it means losing my interest payments and will have to wait nine months again when I reclaim in the new year. I am desperate to work and would love a full time job but this is the only job I have been offered. I really don't know what to do and the DWP have been really unhelpful. They won't give me information without having my name and national insurance number and I don't want to give it if I decide not to take the temporary part time job and they say I've not been actively seeking employment. Please help me. Thanks Flippy