Sir – I write in response to Hubert Allen’s letter (November 11), where he discussed the county council’s decision to re-commission services to support carers.

At the moment, around one-fifth of carers in Oxfordshire take advantage of existing services available to them. Cabinet decided in July to allocate funding currently channelled towards three independently-run carers’ centres towards a range of new services, in order to reach significantly more of the estimated 60,000 carers of adults in the county.

The new arrangements involve the establishment of a customer services centre, offering a single countywide point of telephone support, advice and information.

This service will provide a pro-active approach to identifying those who are caring for people. We will also provide a number of specialist services to run alongside the work of the centre, making the service local and accessible to carers with a greater emphasis on outreach, community network development, the enablement of carers to maintain and improve their employment opportunities and the raising of awareness of the help that is available.

We have not reduced funding for carers. This council recognises the invaluable work that carers do in the community and is committed to supporting them in the best possible way — this decision reflects that fact. Significantly more people will be able to access support as a result of the decision that was taken. That can only be a positive thing.

Arash Fatemian, Cabinet member for adult services, Oxfordshire County Council, County Hall