INTERVIEWED in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph, Vincent Nichols, leader of the Catholic church in England and Wales, labelled the impact of ongoing welfare reforms a ‘disgrace’, destroying the basic safety net and leaving people in hunger and destitution.

In our own corner of the country, Oxfordshire County Council were set to vote yesterday as to whether to cut the Oxfordshire Support Fund from April. The Support Fund was created last year when central government devolved the function and resources of what used to be called the Social Fund.

The Social Fund used to provide support for people experiencing crisis – the part of the safety net to which people could apply when they experienced a sudden crisis – sometimes indeed when other social security payments were delayed. Just the sort of concerns the Archbishop highlighted.

Council figures highlight improvements are needed in the Support Fund to ensure it can reach those it was intended for. But the need for reform is not a justification to cut the fund and Oxfordshire stands almost alone among councils in proposing to do so.

I hope the full council will find a way to keep the fund. The council has a difficult budget to meet but it shouldn’t be balanced on the backs of those facing crisis and destitution PAUL DORNAN Marston Road Oxford