I WRITE with regard to your article ‘Cuts to impact upon dial-a-ride service’, and editorial comment headed ‘Worrying trend’ (Monday’s Oxford Mail).

You express frustration at apparent “squabbling” between Oxford City Council (and implicitly the other districts) and the county council over the funding of dial-a-ride services.

Unfortunately, the article does not make plain the facts of the matter.

These are that, until the financial year 2010-11, Oxford City Council and surrounding districts received substantial sums (in our case, about £4.2m) from the Government to pay for concessionary transport (mostly concessionary bus fares but we also chose to support dial-a-ride), both in a specific grant and in formula grant.

This funding was all removed from this year onwards, and transferred to the county council.

While Oxford City Council would like to make up every service for vulnerable people that the county council chooses to cut, whether it is in the field of social care, warden services or indeed dial-a-ride, we will lose almost a quarter of our Government grant over the next few years (excluding the £4.2m to fund concessionary travel) and it simply isn’t possible.

It must feel pretty comfortable sitting in the Oxford Mail offices saying that councils should be interested in solutions for “residents, not budget sheets” but the blunt truth is that all the services we run have to be paid for.

Normally, the Oxford Mail specialises in well-informed journalism, not plague on all your houses populism, and with this glib comment you have let yourselves down, as well as let the county council off the hook for its cut in service.

ED TURNER Deputy Leader Oxford City Council