Geoff

Jobcentres and social security offices across Notts are facing closure.

Under Government plans to streamline services, just two offices in Nottingham will offer services face-to-face - down from seven.

In the rest of the county, centres in Netherfield, Hucknall and Ollerton will close, while those in Mansfield, Worksop, Sutton-in-Ashfield and Newark will be concentrated on single sites.

The Department of Work and Pensions wants to cut 30,000 jobs by 2008, although it is not clear yet how many of the 1,100 jobs in Notts will be lost.

Nationally, the number of offices processing benefits will be cut from 650 to 81.

Changes have already taken place in Derbyshire and Leicestershire over the past two years.

The moves have been criticised by Sherwood MP Paddy Tipping.

"I accept there needs to be change. Unemployment in Notts now stands at just 2.2%," he said.

"However, the focus should now be on getting people with real and specific difficulties off benefit and back into work.

"For this to happen, we need a network of contact points."

But JobCentre Plus claims its clients will gain from having more services under one roof.

District manager Tom Stockwell said: "These plans are our starting point, but they are also a clear statement of our determination to help more people in Notts off welfare and into work."

Most benefits paperwork will be transferred to the Pearson Building in Upper Parliament Street and Hill House in Commercial Gate, Mansfield, by 2008. Pearson Gate used to be a pensions office.

The remaining centres will be refurbished as changes come in during 2006 and 2007.

Where centres close, jobseekers will be expected to visit nearby towns.

However, there are also plans to introduce freephone links and electronic job points at other sites, such as council premises.

A spokesman for JobCentre Plus said: "We want to provide the service more effectively and felt it made no sense to have several sites in one town."

It's working elsewhere and working well."

Job-seekers in Ollerton told the Post they were not happy.

Carol Kilday, 53, said: "People round here use the centre a great deal.

"I imagine the office isn't just important to the people who live here, but also in the surrounding villages. If you want to take a bus to Mansfield, then it can be an hour there and an hour back.

"The people here are fantastic."

Emily Foster, 21, said: "If they move the nearest centre to Mansfield, how are people meant to find jobs round here in Ollerton?

"I know several people who use the centre and all I can see is that closing the centre is just going to add to the unemployment problem."

Within Nottingham there are seven sites offering face-to-face employment and benefits services. This will be cut to two.

The Victoria Centre Jobshop and the JobCentre Plus premises in Castle Boulevard, Castle Court, Watercourt and Castle Gate will close.

All city services will be provided from the Pearson Building in Upper Parliament Street and Station Street.

The Hill House Social Security office in Commercial Gate in Mansfield will become the main centre for the north of the county. The Stockwell Gate JobCentre will remain open, but Byron House and Victoria Street One (the former name for JobCentre Plus centres) will close.

The Worksop social security office will close and all services will transfer to an improved JobCentre Plus.

Ollerton, Hucknall and Netherfield offices will close.

The Social Security office in Newark will close with all services transferred to the existing JobCentre.

Services in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Arnold, Bulwell, Beeston and Hyson Green will not be affected.

At present, job seekers can apply for expenses when they travel to an interview.

This will continue, but there will not be any extra assistance for people in towns that are to lose their JobCentres and who will have to travel elsewhere.

A JobCentre Plus spokesman said: "If someone is coming to sign on, then we expect them to make their own way.

"But once a job interview has been arranged, they can apply for travel expenses to get there."