Rayleigh's MP Mark Francois recently paid a visit to the town's JobCentre Plus offices on London Hill to examine what help is available during these difficult economic times for local residents seeking to find new employment. Mark spent a morning being briefed by senior Department of Work and Pensions officials on the assistance which is on offer to jobseekers via the local JobCentre Plus network. This includes an updated automated database, which now advertises new jobs vacancies which have been created both locally and further afield, as soon as they become available.
During his visit Mark discussed issues such as the effect of the recession, including the financial crisis in the City, on local employment patterns and how the Jobcentre Plus network of offices are trying to respond to this. Commenting on his visit to the local Jobcentre Plus in Rayleigh, Mark said:
""I know from my constituency postbag and visits around the local community how difficult things are becoming in the employment market and so I wanted to go and see for myself what help is now being made available for my constituents who are hunting out employment against a tough economic background. A number of the people who have been coming to my constituency advice surgeries over the last year have had employment issues so it was good to be able to talk to some of the people running the jobcentre plus network in Essex about what more they might be able do to provide help to those who need it.""