Fight to save Jobcentre (From Gazette Series)

Fight to save Jobcentre

DURSLEY and Cam councils will not let the Jobcentre in Parsonage Street disappear without a fight.

At meetings this week councillors voted to "object in the strongest terms" to the planned closure.

On Tuesday members of Dursley Town Council described last week's announcement by Regional Jobcentre Plus as "ridiculous", "rude" and "worrying".

Cllr Geoff Wheeler said: "We should object in strongest terms to the closure, especially in the light of the new jobs and housing that the Lister Petter site will bring to the town and the 1,200 redundancies planned for the nuclear site at Berkeley."

Then on Wednesday Cam Parish Council called the move "another nail in the coffin of attempts to revitalise Dursley".

Both councils will now send letters to the Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Swindon regional office of Jobcentre Plus stating their position.

Apart from the irritation caused by the closure decision, both councils were angered by the wording of the letter itself, which stated it was keeping councils informed of "Jobcentre Plus services in Wiltshire".

Cam councillor Brian Addle said: "I can't for the life of me work out what the bureaucrats are thinking about with this."

Although firmly against any closure plans, Dursley Town Council also suggested that, if Jobcentre Plus insist on bringing the current arrangements to an end, they would like to see its services retained within an outreach office.

Under such a plan services could be provided from a shared premises, possibly with social services.

The proposed closure was widely condemned, especially as Jobcentre Plus appeared to be railroading the plan through without consultation.

Thumping the table to emphasise his point, Cam's Cllr Charles Hartley said: "How dare they do such a thing? They have a cheek to write to us in these terms."

At the meeting Dursley Deputy Town Mayor Cllr Jane Ball said: "Why should the people of Dursley lose out all over again? We need a Jobcentre here and it is ridiculous to choose this one for closure."

Jobcentre Plus was also condemned for not contacting parishes surrounding the town that would be affected by the closure.

Town mayor Cllr Timothy Frankau said: "I think it is very rude not to inform the other parish councils of this."

His views were backed by Cllr Brian Marsh, who pointed out: "This is not just a service for the people of Dursley, but for Berkeley, Cam, Wotton and even Stroud."

The benefit of having a Jobcentre was also endorsed by one Dursley councillor who had had to use it himself in recent years.

Cllr John Rubin said: "Two years ago I was out of work and I found the Jobcentre very helpful indeed."

Both councils said closure would place an unreasonable burden on job-seekers due to time and money that would have to be spent travelling to Gloucester, Stroud or Yate.

Cllr Addle quipped: "Instead of job-seekers allowance perhaps we should have jobcentre seekers allowance."