London

London Jobcentre Plus serves an estimated 7.1 million residents of London, covering all 33 London Boroughs. We operate through a network of 6 Districts and have around 90 local offices delivering services to customers throughout the Greater London area.

Jobcentre Plus London employs around 9,000 staff in our local offices, in addition our Benefit Processing and Contact Centre operation is delivered via nationally managed Centres.

The diverse nature of London's labour market means there is a range of employment levels, with some boroughs experiencing both very high and very low employment levels. 13 London Boroughs feature in the top 20 most socially deprived Local Authorities in the country.

London Jobcentre Plus is involved in various initiatives to help individuals find work and employers fill their vacancies. Increasingly our focus is on tailoring our services to meet needs in agreement with employers and jobseekers. Some examples include:

• Customer and employer-centred programmes to provide help and support needed by our benefit customers and employers.
• A range of programmes and initiatives to enhance the implementation of the "Welfare to Work" agenda
• To meet the needs of our diverse communities, we are currently running Ethic Minority Outreach programmes in several Districts

We have 'Progress 2 Work' programme running in all our Districts, to provide specialist support and provision for New Deal customers with a history of drug abuse.

We are also looking to extend this programme to homeless people and recovering alcoholics. Jobcentre Plus London is also involved with co-financing and delivering over 90 European Social Fund projects through a wide range of partners.

London External Relations Manager

Darren Woolfenden 020 7342 3842 - e-mail: darren.woolfenden@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk