Alan Keen powerless to save Feltham Jobcentre

He said the new services were 'good news' for residents but admitted he had been unsuccessful in his opposition to closure plans for the main jobcentre, off Feltham High Street, which shuts tomorrow.

"I pushed extremely hard for Feltham jobcentre to remain open and spoke to the minister several times," he said. "But I didn't have the power to stop it. There's no doubt that the decision was a financial one but I am pleased some of those savings have been used to fund these new services."

Despite the spiralling unemployment figures district manager Dave Ashdown insisted he was confident the new services, combined with extended facilities at Hounslow Jobcentre, would be sufficient to meet the needs of Feltham's unemployed residents.

"I'm extremely confident that we'll be providing a just as good, if not better, service to residents who've used the Feltham centre up to now," he said. "We can easily accommodate the extra footfall at Hounslow and we can expand the resources on offer in Hanworth and The Centre if needs be."

But council leader Peter Thompson, who has repeatedly voiced his concerns about the Department of Work and Pensions decision to close the Feltham facility, insisted the closure could still not be justified.

He added: "In the past three months over 800 more borough residents have been made redundant through no fault of their own. It is, to say the least, difficult to see how the single job centre left can support these and other residents unfortunate enough to lose their jobs with finding new work.

"At this time of recession and increasing unemployment it is difficult understand how people without jobs and relying on state benefits can be expected to spend money on travel that would be much better used to pay for food and clothes for their families.".

The advisors will be available to answer queries and offer advice at Hanworth Library, in Hampton Road West, on Tuesday, March 31, and at The Citizens's Advice Bureau, in The Centre, Feltham, on Wednesday, April 8. They will then be available at these venues fortnightly.

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