Ask the DWP to stop the closure of Mountain Ash Jobcentre Plus

This is important because:

• Mountain Ash and neighbouring communities who use the Jobcentre Plus at Mountain Ash have a high level of digital exclusion. The Jobcentre Plus provides vital support for the local population to regularly access job opportunities

• The distance between Aberdare and Mountain Ash does not take into account the distance some claimants already have to travel to attend the Mountain Ash office.

• The extra cost of travel must be taken into account and assurance given that no claimant will be out of pocket if this closure goes ahead

• Mountain Ash and its neighbouring communities are recognised as amongst the most deprived communities in Wales. This closure will be another blow to an already impoverished community.

• Many claimants suffer from ill-health, often including mental ill-health, and require support as locally as possible.

• This Tory Government decision to centralise facilities and take staff from local (and deprived) communities, flies in the face of the Welsh Government Strategy ‘Better Jobs, Closer to Home’.

This petition is organised by Welsh Labour Grassroots RCT & People’s Assembly RCT and supported by:
Mountain Ash Branch Labour Party; Cllr. Andrew Morgan; Cllr. Wendy Treeby; Cynon Valley Constituency Labour Party; Ann Clwyd, Member of Parliament; Vikki Howells, Assembly Member; PCS Union Wales, DWP Bridgend / RCT Branch; Accessible News, Aberdare and Disabled People Against the Cuts.