IT IS likely that users of Jobcentre Plus in Tavistock will have to travel to Plymouth for future appointments after the organisation announced its intentions to pull the service out of the town.

At the moment Jobcentre Plus operates its outreach sign-in service in the offices of West Devon Borough Council. This allows people on Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA) to sign in and review with their work coach what they have been doing to look for work.

People claiming JSA must sign in on a fortnightly basis to ensure they receive their benefits. Tavistock currently has 87 people that require the support of Jobcentre Plus at these sessions.

The organisation has launched a consultation with stakeholders about ceasing the sign-in service in Tavistock, requiring those using the service to travel to Plymouth for their appointments. Oke-hampton will also be affected, with its outreach service also due to close and users expected to travel to Exeter.

Users of the service who are expected to travel to Plymouth more than once a fortnight will get their travel reimbursed. Those who travel to Plymouth just once a fortnight for their job search review will have to pay travel expenses themselves.

The Jobcentre Plus consultation has not invited opinions directly from service users but only local stakeholders and organisations. Service users can send in their opinions to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) directly or through their MP.

Cllr Philip Sanders, leader of West Devon Borough Council said: ‘Anything that happens to reduce services to people in Tavistock is to be deprecated. We want as many services as possible delivered in the town for local people.

‘I recognise that Jobcentre Plus, like all governmental org-anisations, is under great strain and difficulty due to ever-growing financial constraints. But I am sad to hear that they are planning to make this move. If it does happen it will add considerable difficulty for users to attend the sessions due to travel costs and for those who are less able. If it does happen it will be very much regretted and a loss for Tavistock.’

MP for Torridge and West Devon Geoffrey Cox has been a staunch advocate of the Jobcentre Plus for several years and spoke out in support of the service in Tavistock.

He said: ‘Outreach services play an extremely valuable role in rural areas such as this one, and it is therefore with great regret that this service will be lost.

‘However, I have been advised by Jobcentre Plus that as a result of increasing employment in the area, fewer people have been using the service and therefore the cost is now disproportionate.

‘I remain in close touch with Jobcentre Plus and will continue to monitor the situation. I have also asked for assurances that if numbers grow again the service will be restored.’

Cllr Tony Leech, a West Devon borough councillor and a town councillor in Okehampton said people in West Devon should come together and fight the decision.

He said: ‘I am astounded that Jobcentre Plus don’t think it worthwhile to ask people using the service what they thought about it. I am incredulous that users wouldn’t have something to say about all this.

‘We are going to fight this one but it seems like the decision has already been made. You never know quite what’s around the corner and we need to look to the future and preserve services like this. It just seems that Jobcentre Plus are putting up smoke screens with this consultation and the decision has been made.’

A spokesman for the DWP, which runs Jobcentre Plus, said: ‘Employment in the South West is at a record high, and the number of jobseekers in Okehampton and Tavistock has fallen dramatically in recent years. We have a duty to taxpayers to ensure resources are used in the most efficient way possible, and we are consulting to ensure this is the case.

‘Local jobseekers should be in no doubt that they will continue to receive our full support.’

If you would like to protest the potential closure of Jobcentre Plus services please send a letter to Southern England Group Correspondence Team, St Austell JCP, Mail Handling Unit A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1QT.

l What are your thoughts on the potential closure of Jobcentre Plus services in Tavistock? Share your thoughts with us via timesletters@tindlenews. co.uk or send your letter to Tavistock Times, 14 Brook Street, Tavistock, PL19 0HD.