UNIVERSAL credit will put “immense pressure” on the wellbeing of St Helens residents, the councillor who overlooks adult social care in the borough has said.

St Helens Council plan to rollout the benefit – with the exception of families with more than two children and those living in supported housing – in July 2018

Speaking during a meeting of the People’s Board on Wednesday, Cllr Marlene Quinn, cabinet member for adult social care and health, said she has “grave concerns” over rollout.

Cllr Quinn said: “This board’s main concern is the health and wellbeing of all members of our community.

“I think Universal Credit is going to put immense pressure on the health, the mental health and the running of households.

“But it’s also the health and wellbeing of our public bodies that they pay to.

“The money they get could be paid for housing, could be paying council tax it could maybe pay for prescriptions – all these things.”

Cllr Quinn said she feared there would be an “escalation” of people needing to see their GP due to the impact Universal Credit will have on their lives.

Tom Hughes, chairman of Healthwatch St Helens, said the organisation also has "significant concerns" over the rollout.

He said: “We seen some – let’s say errors – that were made when people were transitioning from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to the new benefit called PIP, the Personal Independence Payment.

“It was catastrophic for a large number of people who I would suspect had legitimate expectations for the future of being on that benefit. So it altered their path in life.”

Universal Credit, which was partially implemented in St Helens in July 2014, aims to simplify the benefits system by bringing together a range of six working age benefits into a single payment.

According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), there are 3,768 people in the borough currently receiving Universal Credit. Of these, 2,345 are unemployed.

Following the rollout, the current “Live Service” used to manage the benefit will be replaced with a new “Full Service” digital platform.

Sue Forster, the council’s director of public health, said the authority does expect to encounter some issues with the all-digital rollout. A Working Group has been set up to look at digital provision.

The People’s Board agreed to come back with an update of the rollout in six months’ time.