Downturn sparks more job losses

Car giant Jaguar Land Rover said it would extend a voluntary redundancy scheme which could lead to almost 600 jobs being cut, while plans by a Government agency - which provides legal advice to millions of people - to close a number of offices would also lead to 600 job losses, unions said.

Meanwhile DIY chain Homebase said it was reviewing its central resource requirements to bring its cost base in line with trading conditions, raising the prospect of job cuts among the firm's 20,000 UK staff.

Homebase said the "challenging" conditions facing the DIY market and the retail sector in general meant the firm needed to review costs. All potentially affected Homebase workers will be notified this week and a consultation period will start later in the month.

The GMB union said it was told that the Legal Services Commission planned to reduce its workforce from 1,700 to 1,100 over the next three years. The job losses will be phased as offices close in Brighton, Cardiff, Cambridge, Reading, Leeds, Chester and Birmingham, according to the union.

The Commission is a Government agency providing information, advice and legal representation to two million people a year in England and Wales. The service helps people with civil legal problems such as family breakdown, death and housing.

Rehana Azam, a GMB official, said: "This is very disappointing news for the Legal Services Commission staff and for people seeking legal aid. We will fight a vigorous campaign to minimise the job losses and will seek a meeting with Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, to discuss these proposed job losses."

Meanwhile, Jaguar Land Rover said a call last month for 198 volunteers to leave had been "heavily over-subscribed", so the programme had now been extended to a further 300 to 400 workers spread across the firm's plants at Halewood on Merseyside and Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands.

The firm, which is owned by Indian motor maker Tata, employs around 15,000 workers in the UK.

Chief executive David Smith said: "While regrettable, these are necessary actions to manage our business through a very challenging period."