YP Letters: Austerity enforcers won't listen to Yorkshire

YOUR report headlined “Hundreds of jobs will be affected as job centres merge or close” focuses on one important aspect of the decisions made down in Westminster – the jobs of staff which will hit both them, and their communities, hard.

But there’s also another important issue here – access to essential support and help for vulnerable people and communities. The impacts are well illustrated by just one case, that of the Eastern Avenue job centre in Sheffield.

There was a concerted attempt through the “consultation” to explain to the austerity enforcers in London that the 1,100 people who use the centre weekly are going to find it very difficult, expensive, even impossible, to get into Sheffield city centre.

It is a very long, steep journey from the city centre to Manor Top – impossible for many with disabilities, illness or small children. And the bus is expensive if you’re struggling to survive on £73 a week and often unreliable – potentially disastrous for someone facing the risk of benefit sanctions after even a small delay.

I’ve stood on the picket lines with staff and centre users, and they’ve explained clearly why it is needed. And London was told. But it clearly isn’t listening – as on so much else.