HOYLAKE job centre is set to close as part of government spending cuts. 

It is part of the Department for Work and Pensions' plans to offer a more efficient service and save more than £140 million a year for the next ten years.

Hoylake is the only Wirral branch facing closure, with staff set to be co-located with local government premises.

The DWP says planned changes have been made in consultation with staff taking into account the impact on benefit claimants and staff.

The DWP says eight out of ten claims for Jobseekers' Allowance and 99% of applications for Universal Credit Full Service claims are now made online, meaning its buildings are used much less with 20% of the estate currently underutilised.

Employment minister Damian Hinds said: "We will always make sure that people have the support they need to get into and progress within work.

"These changes reflect the fact that more people access their benefits online resulting in many of our buildings being underused.

"We're merging some offices and locating other jobcentres with local authorities to make sure that the welfare state and our employment support works for those who need it and those who pay for it."

Martin Cavanagh, northwest chair of the Public and Commercial Services Union said: "Here on Wirral, while no staff will be lost by the closure of Hoylake, the impact on claimants cannot, and must not, be overlooked.

"Anyone needing to visit a job centre in the Hoylake area, will now have to travel further, for longer, and at greater expense, out of their meagre benefit.

"This cannot go unchallenged and PCS will continue our campaign to defend services."

West Wirral MP Margaret Greenwood said the closure plans were ill-thought out, adding: "Jobcentres still have a vital role to play in supporting people looking for work.

"These plans will be damaging to some of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.

"It will mean that claimants will have to travel further to attend appointments and may be at greater risk of being sanctioned for being late or missing an appointment.

"The need to travel greater distances to the nearest Jobcentre will be especially difficult for people who are disabled or have children.

"The roll out of the full digital service is already resulting in claimants spending long periods on the phone to the DWP or having to visit Jobcentres in order to resolve problems.

"The closure of Hoylake Jobcentre has been confirmed, for example, even though the DWP plans to introduce the full digital service there in November.

"Universal Credit will place other new demands on Jobcentre staff, such as assessing self-employed people to see if they have a viable business.

"The government also plans to require people in work for the first time to attend appointments to discuss how they can increase their hours if they are claiming Universal Credit.

"The government’s stock answer is that the overwhelming majority of people claiming social security now do so online, but that is to ignore the needs of people who don’t feel confident using IT or who don’t have easy access to it.

"These plans are ill-thought out and should be put on hold while there is proper scrutiny of the government's equality analysis.

"The government's response to criticism of cuts to social security is that work is the best route out of poverty.

"Why, then, is it cutting employment support through Jobcentres which help people to find work?”