The dark blue building above, in Bodfor Street, Rhyl, has been taken over by Jobcentre Plus; it has been unused for at least a couple of years. Before that it was part of Choices video rental shop and in days of yore it was a car showroom.This Jobcentre Plus office has not replaced Jobcentre in High Street. Perhaps extra office space was needed because of refurbishment at High Street, or because of an increase in the number of claimants of Jobseekers Allowance, or both.
Recently a count put the number of persons in UK claiming this particular benefit at 1.64 million. Readers who were paying attention to news in 1980s and ‘90s will have heard higher figures than this – but locally the situation is grim.
As a resident of Rhyl West I know more retired and unemployed people than workers; I know more part-time workers than full-time, and I know hardly any full-timers whose income contains no element of Government subsidy.
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