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Navigating benefits system after sudden income drop

Example of Path To Purpose Work

£1M community fund returns to help more people find a “Path to Purpose”

Mindful by Nature and Complete Kindness CIC event at Pennington Flash, Leigh

Community funding to get local folk into work

Figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions show around 53 per cent of the 63,159 working-age disabled people in Wigan were in employment in the year to March

Many local disabled people are not in work, latest figures reveal

Darren Orme

'Open' conclusion at inquest into Latics fan's death

An elderly person looks at cash at home. Winter Fuel Payments for 2025/26 will start arriving in November, with most paid by December (Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

DWP confirms when millions of pensioners will get Winter Fuel Payment

Office for National Statistics figures show there were 17,641 workless households in Wigan in 2024, which accounted for 19 per cent of all households in the area

Latest workless household figures revealed

New figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show there were 17,201 people receiving Universal Credit for health-related reasons in Wigan as of June – a 33 per cent increase on the 12,943 a year earlier

Latest Universal Credit claimant statistics

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Winter Fuel Payment 2025: which pensioners must apply - as claims open

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The 4 pensioner groups ineligible for this year's Winter Fuel Payment

Employment minister Alison McGovern, second from left, takes part in the roundtable at Wigan Jobcentre

Employment minister visits Wigan

Bank of England bank notes.

Council spends entire allocation on helping with housing costs

(Photos: Pexels/Getty Images)

Major State Pension error could owe 300,000 over-60s £5k or more

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show 15,097 children under 16 in Wigan were living in relative poverty in the year to March – up from 14,162 the year before and the highest since comparable records began in 2013-14

Record child poverty in borough

(Photo: Peter Byrne - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Labour restores Winter Fuel Payment to millions of pensioners

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What to do if your loved one dies - practical first steps
Grieving is hard enough — here’s how to manage the legal and financial admin 📝
Alex Nelson

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers a speech during a visit to Mellor Bus in Rochdale on June 4, 2025, to announce investments in regional transport (Photo: PETER BYRNE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Major Winter Fuel Payment update as Government says 'more will get it'

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Household Support Fund - when councils will announce funding details

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Urgent deadline to boost State Pension with NI top-ups looms

The latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show 1,022 people in Wigan who had received one form of ESA had been handed a migration notice as of the end of December

Universal Credit transfer not complete locally

How to access DWP and local financial support during half-term break

The rate of Local Housing Allowance is based on private market rents in the local area

Housing benefit insufficient for nearly two-thirds of families with children

Assessments are currently carried out for people who receive PIP

Dad's campaign to stop benefit reviews for people with disabilities

Pensioners must apply for Pension Credit soon to get Winter Fuel aid

1000s to receive £300 as new Household Support Fund schemes launched

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show there were 63,797 disabled people living in Wigan as of March, with 41 per cent of them in employment

The number of out-of-work disabled people is growing

There has been a significant decrease in Wigan’s claimant count

Christmas recruitment leads to fall in benefit claimants
Employment in Wigan is on the rise as businesses take on workers for their pre-Christmas rushes.
Charles Graham

The true depth of child poverty is worse than free school meals data suggests

Concerns raised over the dire state of child poverty in England

A member of the public walks through the snow in Victoria Park in Glasgow in February 2021 (Photo: ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Cold Weather Payment: eligibility - and how to claim extra winter cash

Department for Work and Pensions figures show 60,397 pensioners in Wigan received help in 2023-24 – up from 59,529 the year before.

Winter fuel allowance payments rise

(Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)

Families eligible for £500 support payment - with hours left to apply

Thousands are eligible for a £500 support payment - but deadlines near

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Household Support Fund decision looms as September deadline nears

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Thousands of UK households to receive up to £600 in government support

Department for Work and Pensions figures show there were 22,838 households in Wigan who received the rebate in 2023-24

The lifeline of an energy bill discount

1000s of households to get direct cost-of-living payments up to £500

Staff and supporters on the picket outside Brocol House and Wigan Job Centre Plus, King Street, Wigan, as GMB security guards strike in a week-long walk-out

Job centre picket line as security guards strike

Job Centre Plus, DWP, Brocol House, King Street, Wigan.

Job centre workers' new strike

G4S security staff and supporters on a picket line outside Wigan's job centre at Brocol House

Security staff form picket line outside Wigan's job centre in national walkout

The number of people in the North East classed as economically inactive has risen again.

Job centre security guards in Wigan prepare to take industrial action

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show there were 6,035 people receiving the benefit in Wigan as of last summer, the most recent available figures.

How many carers are not claiming the benefits to which they are entitled?

Of all the children facing poverty in Wigan, 4,222 were below school age

Nearly a quarter of children living in poverty

MP Yvonne Fovargue with Waspi campaigners in Wigan town centre in 2016

Report suggests women get compensation after pension age change

Michelle Leeson, managing director of GC Employment

Thousands of people start new jobs thanks to help from work programmes

Aerial view of Wigan town centre

Wigan targeted in new £1.3m pilot scheme to help disabled people get into work

The DWP will pay more than seven million households and HMRC will follow with around 830,000 more, taking the total number of households eligible for the cost of living payment to around eight million.

Breaking Cost of living payment: Exact date £300 boost will be paid this autumn

People walk near the Jobcentre in Westminster.

DWP warning over Universal Credit changes coming in October

Thousands of Universal Credit claimants are to be affected by new rules that have been introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) this week.

Universal Credit rule change launches this week - are you affected?

Discretionary housing payments are paid by local authorities to cover shortfalls in residents' housing benefit or universal credit

Wigan Council spent more than its discretionary housing payments budget

Around six million people are set to receive a £150 cost of living payment- here’s what you need to know and how to check if you’re eligible for the cash boost.

Millions to receive £150 cost of living payment soon - am I eligible?

Parents claiming Universal Credit will receive hundreds of pounds more from the end of June.

Parents claiming Universal Credit to receive £100s more in shake-up

Combined with a winding-up of older benefits and reduced employment opportunities, the number of people using universal credit across England rose dramatically over the pandemic – and has remained high since

Number of Wigan people on universal credit hits an all-time high

More than six million households will be eligible for the £150 disability cost of living payment, with the money set to start hitting bank accounts from next month.

Exact date six million people will get £150 cost of living payment

Thousands of households are being urged to check if they are missing out on Pension Credit, which automatically triggers eligiblity for the cost of living payment and could make you up to £3,500 better off per year.

Days left for thousands of households to apply for cost of living cash

A Universal Credit sign in the window of the Job Centre in Westminster.

Thousands could miss out on £301 cost of living payment - here’s why

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