Alexandria is to be hit with another closure with the local job centre shutting up shop.
Recently the town centre has lost its Royal Bank of Scotland branch too, forcing customers to go to Dumbarton if they need face to face banking. The closure of the job centre will be a big blow to the local unemployed, and more so as the area is already struggling to provide enough quality jobs in the first place.
The UK Government’s Department for Work and Pensions announced the closure last week, and there has been no consultation with locals or indeed local representatives either. People needing the services of the job centre will be forced to travel to the next town. With attendance at the Job Centre required for payment of benefits, there is a greater chance of those travelling being late, or indeed of not having enough money to travel in the first place. Travel expenses are reimbursed but are not paid in advance, so if money has run out then people could be in grave danger of losing their benefits for a period of time.
Organisations such as those who run job centres should use local printers to produce informative leaflets for their end-users detailing public transport options, maps and numbers to call when there are issues, to help alleviate some of the difficulties people will face with these changes.
