LABOUR are sending “Jobcentres on wheels” around churches, mosques and football grounds in a trial bidding to cut the number of people out of work.
The Department for Work and Pensions is piloting a scheme which sends vans around community hubs including shop car parks.
The scheme is being trialled in Bolton, near Manchester and parts of Wales, The Mirror reports.
Employment Minister Alison McGovern (below) told the paper: “We are trying to test new ways of helping people.
“We know there is a significant number of people in the country who are socially isolated, where they would like some help and support and advice. We want to try out if we – as the DWP – go to where people are, works better. In Bolton – initially at least – the answer seems to be yes.
“We have set up a trial to see if by creating a small mobile Jobcentre we can make it more convenient for people to stop by, get some advice, get some support, and to try and build a new relationship with people.”
The Labour minister said there “absolutely” was a stigma associated with Jobcentres and that the scheme would attempt to tackle this, adding: “If you're at the football ground […] then I think that definitely can destigmatise.”
It comes as Labour seek to slash welfare spending and get more people off benefits.
A Government paper due to be published next month will outline policies to achieve this, with Keir Starmer (above) previously backing Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s “ruthless” bid to cut public spending.
Speaking with The Mirror this week, McGovern failed to rule out whether the Government would cut disability benefits – an acute fear for many unable to work.
She said: “Unfortunately you'll have to wait for the green paper. I can't give any details because I can't pre-announce what's going to be in the green paper.
“But the guarantee I want to make as minister working with our thousands of work coaches up and down the country is that we will make sure there are real chances and opportunities there for people and they get help.”
