By the kilburn Unemployed Workers GrouK

The government has already closed 24 jobcentres since August this year. They plan to close a further 78 Jobcentres by April of 2018.

16 of these Jobcentres are in London.

Poor people and people facing the biggest challenges need local jobcentres, not some superhub that they have to walk miles to reach.

Benefit money is too little to cover regular trips on public transport. People will have to walk. And don’t be late or too ill to walk over a mile each way whenever the jobcentre demands it-– you’ll be up for a sanction!

The Torys say that much of the jobcentres work is now done online, but 5.3 million people in Britain have never used the internet, and 10 million lack the basic digital skills. And millions of these people will be in receipt of benefits.

You can’t use the internet if you can’t afford a computer or a mobile phone contract or or the fee for using library or internet cafe

You can’t use the internet if you are illiterate (and six to eight million Britons are borderline or fully illiterate)

Our local Jobcentres, Kilburn and Neasden, serve one of the most deprived areas in the country. If they are closed then over half of the borough of Camden and around two thirds of Brent will be more than half a mile from the nearest jobcentre, i.e. more than a mile round trip. These areas contain heavily populated areas: a lot of people are going to be affected.

In amongst the people who can’t use the internet are hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their disability benefit because they aren’t disabled enough for the Tories. They may be able to walk just 200 meters, or sometimes panic when out and get lost, or nor be able to plan a journey to places they dont know, or have epilepsy. They may be seriously depressed or suffering from brain fog brought on by medication or illnesses like Fibromyalgia. They may be recovering from Cancer or waiting for a heart operation. They may have variable conditions that mean that they can’t guarantee being able to go out at all on any particular day.

Let’s meet outside the DWP’s headquarters at Caxton House and let them know what we think about this. Save our Jobcentres!

The 16 London jobcentres that are closing are:

Highgate, – 24 November 2017

Eltham, – 1 December 2017

Edgware, – 8 December 2017

Finchley, 12 January 2018

Dagenham, – 19 January 2018

Southall, January 2018

Kingston, February 2018

Brixton, 9 February 2018

Neasden Chancel House, 16 February 2018

Clapham Maritime House, – 23 February 2018

Kilburn, 2 March 2018

Hammersmith 9 March 2018

Croydon, – 16 March 2018

Wandsworth, 23 March 2018

Leytonstone, 30 March 2018

Hounslow, 1 – 6 April 2018