DAVID Cameron's "Big Society" could allow ministers to dodge responsibility for the impact of spending cuts, the head of the ­Catholic church in England warned last night.

Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols has supported the Prime Minister's call for an expansion of voluntary engagement. But he said the philosophy lacked substance and was at a "critical point" as people started to feel the pain of public service cuts.

The Government could not simply "cut ­expenditure and expect that the slack will be taken up by greater voluntary activity", he said in a newspaper interview.