DWP vow to help staff at BHS

Job centre staff in East Kilbride are making plans to help BHS staff as the store is wound down.

As the latest employment statistics were revealed, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) emphasised their plans to help people in the town centre store.

Job centre Plus bosses stated that they have been in contact with the administrators and are on standby to go into BHS stores and directly advise affected staff on their options.

They also state that DWP teams will make local BHS branches aware of any vacancies in their area and have written to major retailers asking them to consider what opportunities they can offer to BHS workers.

Previously administrators Duff & Phelps revealed that it had not been possible to agree a sale of the business and would be starting an “orderly wind down.”

The retailer’s branch in the Plaza was described as being in ‘close down sale mode’.

Overallin East Kilbride unemployment continued a downward trend with a 39 per cent drop in unemployment since May 2015, with the figure for May 2016 standing at 641 claimants.

The new statistics also show an improvement from the previous month with a 3.1 percent decrease in unemployment for the period from April to May, 2016.

East Kilbride Central North has the highest level of unemployment in the town with 171 claim ants, followed byEK South with 148 claimants.

East Kilbride Central South has 135 people on JSA , and East has 126.

The lowest level of unemployment was inEK West with just 62.

In the nearby Avondale area there were 127 claimants.

Across South Lanarkshire claimants were down year-onyear to 4285, and decreased to 15,845 across Scotland.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Stephen Crabb, said :“Secure employment and a decent wage are key to transforming the life chances of people right the way across the country, so I’m delighted to see another strong set of figures this month.

“There are more people in work than ever before and wages are continuing their upward climb.”