USERS of Jobcentre Plus have until October 14 to protest its potential closure in Okehampton after the organisation announced its intention to pull the service out of the town.

At the moment, Jobcentre Plus operates its outreach sign-in service from the Ockment Centre each Friday. 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.

Okehampton currently has 62 people that require the support of Jobcentre Plus in the Ockment Centre.

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

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

A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions, 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.’

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

Cllr Tony Leech, a member of West Devon Borough Council and Okehampton Town Council, said the community needed to come together and fight the decision.

He said: ‘I am astounded that Jobcentre Plus doesn’t think it is worthwhile to ask people who use 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 seems a far better option than dragging people to Exeter when that time could be used in the Ockment Centre searching for jobs and offering help. If it does go, I can’t see the people who fund the job club keeping that going and that would be a huge loss.’

The Ockment Centre itself was left off the list of stakeholders consulted with and was only asked for its opinion after requesting inclusion.

The team at the centre has put forward a low cost alternative to the current outreach scheme offering Skype interviews for people living in Okehampton to talk to their work coaches in Exeter via video link.

Jenny Hopkins, from the Ockment Centre, said: ‘Why have the service users not been consulted? Jobcentre Plus is avoiding the issue. We are doing what we can to ensure the actual service users have a voice in all this — something denied to them by the original consultation.

‘The reason we have been given that the Jobcentre Plus wants to move the service to Exeter is to provide a holistic approach where those attending can have job reviews with their work coach.

‘They get more than that here already. At the same time as well as the Jobcentre Plus, we run the Work Club and Friday Hub that offer additional services. People get a much wider range of support through the current set up than they will if they have to travel to Exeter.

‘If the service does go it also leaves our own Friday Work Club in a vulnerable position as to whether it can keep going. It would be a big blow to the centre and will leave people in Okehampton looking for work in an even worse situation.

‘We have been looking at every alternative to provide a lower cost service here in Okehampton. We are currently trying to liaise with the DWP about ways forward, such as providing a secure “Skype” type link form the Ockment Centre so that people can still have their job search reviews with a work coach in Exeter at a local venue.’

Central Devon MP Mel Stride said: ‘I am very concerned about the impact that this decision may have on those seeking work from in and around Okehampton. The number using the outreach service has fallen significantly over the last few years as the local economy has recovered however there remains a group of around 60 people who may be affected by this change.

‘I am taking this issue up with ministers in Westminster and I am urgently seeking a meeting with Jobcentre Plus to discuss this vital issue with them. I do not wish to see additional cost burdens placed on those actively looking for work who may also be struggling to get by.’

The Ockment Centre is now collecting letters from service users about the importance of the service in Okehampton and how its closure would affect them. They would also like to hear from any other local organisation or individual who wants to write a letter expressing their opinions.

This is so the centre can send a mass response including its own thoughts as well as letters from service users and the community. Please hand any letters in to the Ockment Centre by Wednesday, October 14 and they will be sent on to DWP.

l What are your thoughts on the potential closure of Jobcentre Plus services in Okehampton? Share your thoughts with us via [email protected] or send your letter to Okehampton Times, The Ockment Centre, North Street, Okehampton, EX20 1AR.