The number of people sleeping rough in Auckland's streets and parks has more than doubled as the city's housing crisis deepens.

A 60-year-old Blenheim man has been charged with arson and burglary after a Work and Income building was ram-raided and then set alight early this morning.

The queues start about 3am each day, but the Auckland City Mission says just a third of the donations it needs this Christmas have been raised.

Hundreds of families from as far away as Hamilton are queuing at the Auckland City Mission for help to put food on the table this Christmas.

Staff at Ashburton's Work and Income office have today been praised for their resilience in returning to work less than three months after two co-workers were shot dead in cold blood.

Life in the quiet Mid-Canterbury farming hub of Ashburton takes a step closer to normality today when its Work and Income office reopens for the first time since September's double-shooting tragedy.

Nearly 100 jobs are set to go at Work and Income - but the government says even more new roles will be created.

A 36-year-old Dunedin man may be charged after allegedly bringing a knife into the central Dunedin Work and Income New Zealand office.

New Zealand's roll call of sole parents on benefits has dropped again - this time to the lowest level in a quarter-century.

New figures show 9 per cent of solo parents in Auckland had their benefits cut for travelling overseas, but advocates say they had good reasons to travel.

New charges, including a second attempted murder count, have today been laid against alleged Ashburton Work and Income double killer Russell John Tully.

A man caught with a slug gun near a Tauranga Work and Income office this morning told police he intended selling it.

PM John Key and Labour leader David Cunliffe are expected to be among those attending today's public memorial service in Ashburton for the Winz shooting victims.

An investigation is underway after a bomb threat hoax at the Foxton Work and Income office last night.

The morning began like all others for three women in the Winz office.

Public servants will observe two minutes of silence at 9.51am on Monday to remember those who lost their lives a week earlier in the Ashburton Work and Income shootings.

The funeral of slain Winz worker Peggy Noble will be held on Monday in Ashburton.

Surrounded by friends at the club where they spent most Thursday nights, Peggy Noble's partner of 11 years stood in her honour.

About 300 people holding candles of hope wrapped their arms around one another and grieved for Peg Noble and Leigh Cleveland at a vigil near Ashburton's Winz office.

Prime Minister John Key has written an open letter to the people of Ashburton after the tragic deaths of two Work and Income staff in the town earlier this week

A security review of Work and Income offices is being carried out following the double shooting at an Ashburton office on Monday.

A woman who was supposed to be at the Ashburton Work and Income office for a 9am appointment is counting her lucky stars she was late.

A public memorial service will be held in Ashburton in the next few days to pay tribute to Winz shooting victims Leigh Cleveland and Peggy Noble.

A private investigator will lose his practising certificate after being convicted of accessing the Work and Income database by impersonation.