FURTHER steps have been taken towards the provision of a JobCentre in Bordon, after an agreement was made over its new home.
The Employment Service has agreed terms for a lease of the former Resource Centre on Chalet Hill, which in previous years was the home of the Nat West bank until it closed.
At Monday's meeting of the finance and policy committee of Whitehill Town Council, clerk Linda Tiley broke the news that the lease had been agreed.
However, she said that more steps had to be carried out before the centre could open.
"They are still waiting for internal alterations and sorting out the fine detail of what services will be in the building because of changes to the benefits agency," she said.
The Secretary of State for Employment approved the case for closing down the existing JobCentre in Headley Road, Liphook, and relocating it to Bordon, in January.
This was after the Employment Service put forward a case that it was needed in Bordon more than it was needed in Liphook.
In a report to East Hampshire District Council, district manager for the mid Hampshire region Mick Hickey explained that there were strong reasons to relocate the centre.
Of the 251 people registered with the Liphook JobCentre, 125 - almost half - were from Bordon and Whitehill.
This means that once it is relocated, the JobCentre will be able to offer a comprehensive service, including training, to the people who need it the most.
It is also hoped that a JobCentre in the town will help to tackle the social, economic and demographic make-up of Bordon, which received a poor reading on the Jarman Health Index.
On Monday town councillor Zoya Faddy said: "This is a very high profile site on Chalet Hill and it will be easy for people to find."
It is hoped that the centre could be opened later this year.