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Job Centre closure was 'a huge mistake'
(May 21, 2009)THE closure of the job centre in Warminster increasingly looks like a huge mistake canvassing during the local elections is revealing.
"I am shocked by the number of people that I know if not by name then by face who are now unemployed or have been told that they are being consulted about their future," says Paul Macdonald.
Paul is putting himself forward as an Independent candidate for the Warminster East division of the newly established Wiltshire council.
"Luckily through the work myself and Steve Dancey have been doing over the last ten months on our website I was able to give quite a lot of advice."
He explained their plans in their planning, economic development and tourism chapters but had to admit that they were longer term.
"The important thing is that we were thinking about these issues well before the 'worldwide' recession hit so we are ahead of others."
There was another area of concern about this issue. The centralisation of support services for the unemployed in Trowbridge repeating the 'Cinderella' status that the town suffered when Paul was last a councillor.
"I am dismayed by the experiences some have suffered at the job centre at Trowbridge where no doubt good staff are struggling to cope with not only dealing with jobless issues but all sorts of other benefit issues.
"It sounds completely alien to the environment that existed at the Warminster Job centre which I had a lot of dealings with during my days as a journalist at the Warminster Journal."
Steve Dancey added: "While unemployment figures for Warminster are no longer published the information is still available to officials.
"One other Wiltshire town I have seen an official projection for is expecting a four-fold increase in the number of people unemployed and claiming benefit - and I think Warminster is in a much worse position.
"I will be seeking to make this information much more widely available if successful on 4 June."
The need for jobs