DWP announces closure of 20 Job Centre branches in the UK - including Wigan

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have announced the closure of 20 Job Centre branches around the UK, including one in Wigan. The reason for the closures is that the temporary expansion during the pandemic is no longer needed as the need for social distancing is not in place anymore.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We no longer need the temporary space we acquired during the pandemic to accommodate social distancing. To continue providing our essential employment support and other services in a way that is cost efficient for the taxpayer, we are phasing out these temporarily leased sites and staff and all customer services will return to the nearby established jobcentre.

“The closing of these temporary sites will not reduce our levels of service, or access to face-to-face appointments. Customers will return to being served by their established Job Centre and there will be no reduction in the number of Work Coaches serving customers as a result.”

The DWP believes that the closures won’t affect anyone claiming benefits or impact the service provided for customers. The centre at Mesnes House at Mesnes Street in Wigan will be one of the first 20 branches to be decommissioned by March 2023.

Full list of Job Centres closing by March 2023

• Aylesbury

• Bath

• Blyth

• Burnley

• Dundee

• Gateshead

• Halifax

• Inverness

• Ipswich

• Kettering

• Leeds

• Lincoln

• London Hackney

• London Kentish Town

• London Sutton Carew

• London Tooting

• Stevenage

• Sunderland

• Swindon

• Wigan