Wakefield Council to run temporary free bus to help isolated people access benefit checks

People will be able to check if they are not claiming some benefits they're not entitled to, at events being run by the council next month.

People living in rural areas plagued by poor public transport will be offered lifts to specific information events, where they can find out if they are claiming all the benefits they're entitled to.

Wakefield Council will be running the initiative for three weeks next month, with some funding for the move coming from an as yet unnamed sponsor.

The events will be run at nine hubs across the district, which the council helped set up, alongside Citizen's Advice, to offer support services for people during the pandemic.

Councillor Maureen Cummings outlined the scheme on Wednesday.

The move is designed to target people who'd otherwise be unable to attend.

Announcing the service at a scrutiny meeting on Wednesday, the council's Cabinet member for poverty, Maureen Cummings, said: "We are being sponsored by a company, whose name I can't mention yet, but it is a Wakefield company.

"It will be for those rural areas, for those people who can't otherwise get to our events.

"It will be out in the Wakefield Rural (ward), Upton and out that way.

"It's a touring bus where people can actually get a benefits check."

Further details about the events are expected to be released in due course.

Local Democracy Reporting Service