THE impact of benefit cuts on people in Oxford is clear from research carried out by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion.

We should all be concerned that single parents and the disabled appear to be getting hit the hardest, as well as by reports of people going so far as to skip meals and not switch on their heating to save money.

And it is not just unemployed people who are feeling the pinch, as 60 per cent of those households identified as losing out on £1,594 a year were in work – showing that Susan Brown is correct when she says people are wrong to think that benefit claimants don’t work.

Most worrying is the report’s prediction that the impact of welfare reforms is set to increase as the cost of living and rents continue to outpace increases in benefits.

Whoever forms the next government will have to deal with a welfare system that some people say still costs far too much and is not sustainable. And coupled with ongoing efforts to reduce the deficit, this could mean there are even harder times ahead for some of the most vulnerable.

Let us just hope that other measures can be put in place to help those who find themselves in desperate situations.