Tuesday, August 02, 2005

You even have to sign on in Inverness!

Further proof of Nairn’s relentless slide into oblivion as an administration entity in its own right comes with the news that the Job Centre will close in September: you will have to get on your bike and sign on in Inverness. I hope punters that have to sign on will get their bus/train fare or expenses back. In this modern age where lots of us can look on-line for work or even in the local paper then, yes, the role of jobcentres is perhaps going out of the window and a lot of people are of the opinion that there were never many decent jobs advertised in the Nairn one anyway but that is beside the point. Instead of everyone on the dole having to go to Inverness, couldn’t someone from Inverness come here once a fortnight just to collect signatures? It would save even more people clogging the A96 up for demoralising journeys.
I didn’t see it in anybody’s manifesto that the job centre would close, perhaps Unemployment Benefit itself will go next. Who knows what other treats New Labour have in the pipe-line for us, perhaps a few more wars are planned to make use of the unemployed?

3 comments:

Bill said...

Look here, Gurn, I am no supporter of our beloved New Labour government, quite the reverse in fact, but I distinctly remeber the closure of the Nairn Job Centre being discussed (and more or less forecast) months ago - this is not news.

Why should jobs be brought to people? People need to get used to going out and LOOKING for jobs , specially at this time of year when I am pretty sure there are lots of seasonal jobs available locally.

Graisg said...

As I more or less said Bill, many people think the Job Centre is the last place you will find a decent job. I just think it is silly for people to go to Inverness to sign on for benefit.
The economy might be good at the moment with lots of jobs in service industries etc but I remember a time when Ardesier went down the tubes and at one time a figure of 33% unemployment was whispered about for Nairn. If unemployment ever reaches such dizzy levels again it would be simply insane for busloads of people to go to Inverness to claim benefit.
Couldn't one or two of the workers at the Inverness Job Centre come through once a fortnight for a few hours so claimants could sign on here. I'll bet some of the Job Centre employees in Inverness live in Nairn anyway. It might even be cost effective?

Nairn said...

The closure of the job centre will mean yet another empty shop in the High Street, and I agree with you Graisg that it would be positive for folk looking for work to be able to look in Nairn rather than have to travel through to Inverness. Many folk would have been able to visit the centre everyday to look for work, but once it is centralised in Inverness I doubt people will travel through more than one a fortnight. Is this a sign that Nairn is becoming a retirement town? Will SAGA be opening a branch here soon?