A NEW Jobcentre unit has been set up to help people in Jaywick find work.

The unit has been opened at the Enterprise Centre, in Lotus Way, in a bid to help residents get the training and support they need to get a job.

The initiative has been developed by the Department for Work and Pensions and Tendring Council.

Jobcentre staff are working with benefit claimants to help them gain more skills.

Neil Stock, leader of Tendring Council, said: “This will give them the best possible opportunity to move closer to finding a job.

“Residents in Jaywick are greatly benefiting from job search support, tailored training and advice and guidance which is local to them, and that can only help.”

Mr Stock said the scheme was a further example of the efforts taking place to improve the lives of people in Jaywick.

“The council, along with our partners in both the public and private sector, are working hard to bring about a significant change to the fortunes of residents.

“This involves the regeneration of Jaywick and we are already making great strides by buying parcels of land to have developed for new homes.

“It is an ongoing process which we are totally committed to and have made a promise to the residents and we will not let them down.”

Sharon Gardiner, Jobcentre Plus work service manager, said that seaside towns became a priority area with regard to regeneration, partnerships and social justice following the Centre for Social Justice Report into deprivation in coastal areas, which was released in 2013 and highlighted the extent of Clacton’s problems.

“Working very closely with Tendring Council, we have been able to secure premises and the necessary IT to run this full-functioning service in Jaywick,” she said.

“This is something that Jobcentre Plus could not have achieved alone and we are delighted with the response we have received from claimants.

“We have been operating out of the site since early June and the numbers are going up every day.”