Your front page article (Scrooge cuts, Croydon Guardian, November 1) gives the impression that there will be widespread cuts in funding to voluntary organisations. This is not the case.

Only a small part of the council's voluntary sector support is affected by the savings. The £5m of commissioned services for the most vulnerable people in Croydon will not be affected. The proposed £220,000 savings will be found from less high priority areas.

I cannot say at this stage what the impact will be for each organisation as we are still discussing funding levels with them. However, the overall level of saving proposed is not dissimilar to, or slightly less than, the amounts the council has saved in voluntary sector funding in previous years.

It is strange reading comments from the opposition leader as this is now the third successive year of cash reductions and we will be following the same principles to achieve the target for 2007/2008 which his administration used in 2005/2006 and 2006/2007.

I am confident that there is sufficient scope for savings through efficiencies and changes in funding in low priority services to meet the target for 2007/2008 without wide ranging reductions in funding to individual groups.

Where levels of funding are reduced for VCS services which are no longer high priority, the council will provide advice and support to help groups seek alternative funding. We also have a policy on withdrawal of funding which allows for an orderly wind down of service if necessary.

I believe the voluntary sector understands the position the council faces and that we are not taking these decisions lightly. The comments from the chief executive of Age Concern demonstrates this understanding and reflects comments I have heard from a number of groups across the borough.

I am looking forward to a period of expansion of the council's investments in the voluntary and community sector when the financial situation allows.

While we may not agree on the detail there is a broad political consensus at national level that the voluntary and community sector has a strong role to play in the delivery of public services.

We are determined to see this happen in Croydon.

COUNCILLOR ENLEY TAYLOR Croydon Council