Sir – People will be rightly concerned that the leader of Oxford City Council allowed the letter over his name in the latest edition of Your Oxford to be printed and distributed with so many inaccuracies, as reported (November 15).

While there is understandable worry that changes to the benefit system may cause hardship, bringing several benefits together into the new universal credit should help people to get all the benefits for which they qualify as well as simplifying the administration, thereby reducing costs.

What was wrong in councillor Price’s letter were the statements that child benefit was one of the benefits involved, that people would be forced to apply for benefits online and that mothers would no longer be able to receive child benefit direct. There is a Government code of practice for local authority publicity, in particular this stipulates that local authorities should ensure that publicity relating to policies and proposals from central Government is balanced and factually accurate. This code of practice was clearly breached by the leader’s letter. Thank goodness the errors were spotted by my colleague councillor Tony Brett, though not before 27,000 copies of the magazine had been delivered.

A new version will have to be printed and, at my request, will be accompanied by a note to all households who had received the original one.

We have not yet been told who will bear the costs of the revision and new printing.

Jean Fooks, Leader, Liberal Democrat Group, Oxford City Council, County Councillor for Summertown and Wolvercote