Job centres 'unprepared' to deal with recession

Job centres throughout the UK were largely unprepared to deal with the recession, according to a new report.

Research issued by the Department for Work and Pensions has revealed that people in search of new jobs often had to deal with untrained staff, computer system failures and a general lack of staff in the centres.

The study has been released as unemployment figures are today expected to reveal that there are 2.5 million people in the UK who do not currently have a job.

Theresa May, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said that the new report showed that job centres are "in crisis".

She commented: "The tragedy now is that the people who need help the most have been cast adrift by Labour's incompetence."

In other research form the study, the DWP claimed that many advisers in job centres believed that people seeking work did not require help and already had the attributes to find and secure a job themselves.

Posted by Lee Anne Lewis