More travel for job seekers as centres to close

THE job centre in Mountain Ash is to close as part of a move that could have a major impact on local services, it was confirmed last week.

The news means the centre’s employees will now have to travel to Aberdare for work, as will those looking for jobs in the area. It was confirmed last Wednesday, and came as part of a swathe of closures by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), after the initial plans were revealed back in January.

As well as the Mountain Ash branch, other job centres in Tredegar and Pyle will also close, with staff and job seekers having to travel to Ebbw Vale and Porthcawl respectively.

The DWP believes the move will save more than £140m a year, and is based around “delivering a more efficient and modern employment service”, not cutting jobs.

Speaking about the Mountain Ash closure, leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf council and ward member for Mountain Ash West Andrew Morgan described the news as “incredibly disappointing”.

He said: “This decision has very clearly been taken at a desk in London by DWP ministers who simply do not appreciate the impact this will have on those seeking to access employment opportunities.

“The personal finances of people accessing the services of the job centre will already inevitably be stretched; to then expect those individuals to then travel to Aberdare or Pontypridd demonstrates a complete lack of care and concern for those people’s circumstances.

“We want to take our communities in RCT forward, and employment plays a fundamental part of this. We therefore need job centres to be accessible to allow easy access to the services they provide, which the public rely upon.

“I will be writing to the DWP to express my disappointment and to ask why they have not sought to work with the council around securing a future for this provision in Mountain Ash.

“I understand that those staff employed at Mountain Ash job centres have been offered alternative roles.”

The Public and Commercial Services Union has condemned the move, claiming it undermined the Welsh Government’s efforts to produce a sustainable future for Wales’ poorest communities.

PCS Wales chairwoman, Katrine Williams, said: “The DWP should not be removing jobs and services from areas of high unemployment.

“There is a massive amount of support that we need to deliver to the public and the best way to do this is with sites and our members based in the local communities.”

A total of 750 jobs across the UK, including eight sites in Wales, will be affected.