I was surprised and disappointed to read the views of Keith Barker, the chairman of the Prestwich Methodist Youth Association, regarding funding on your letters page of the August 31 and I would like to challenge these views on several counts.

First, it is simply wrong and misleading to infer that the Connexions Service in any way neglects young people in the south of the borough as this letter implies.

In the 2005/2006 business year alone, the Connexions Service had over 15,000 individual contacts with young people in Bury, over 3,000 of which were with young people from the Prestwich and Whitefield areas.

Connexions personal advisors deliver a wide range of services from a variety of venues in these two areas including the Phoenix Centre, all high schools, Training for Today, the Shuttle Centre and Prestwich library. Such facts hardly indicate a service with a bias towards the north of the borough.

Second, with regards to the point made about funding the Phoenix Centre itself, the policy in Bury, agreed by the Connexions Partnership of which Mr Barker was a member, was to have a central Connexions Centre supported by a number of locality based Access Points' including the Phoenix Centre.

This decision was based on the fact that additional Connexions funding for Bury was designated for the recruitment of extra personal advisors and as a result enhance services for all young people, which is what has happened.

It was made quite clear at that time that no funding could be made available to establish any additional Connexions Centres and that the preferred approach was to enable wider access to information, advice and guidance resources through the establishment of Access Points in existing facilities. Whilst the development of Access Points has often proved challenging, the overall impact of this approach has been very positive.

Third, while it is true that core funding has been used to develop the Connexions Centre, this investment has been primarily focused on providing a first class facility for all young people across the borough, and developing a one-stop-shop approach as was envisaged by central government at the outset of Connexions in 2002.

This investment has been warmly welcomed by young people from all areas of Bury, as shown by the consistently positive feedback we receive from centre users, and partners, many of whom make excellent use of the centre to deliver a variety of services.

Finally, I would also like to highlight the fact that the Connexions Service has provided funding opportunities for voluntary and community groups in Bury ever since 2002, opportunities that the Prestwich Methodist Youth Association and the Phoenix Centre have benefited from this year and in the past.

Any funding is awarded against clear criteria, is needs based and has not favoured any particular geographical patch.

This year the funding allocated across Bury totalled £71,359. Given these facts, Connexions can hardly be seen as not being willing to support the voluntary and community sector financially.

Once again I would like to register my disappointment at the negative remarks made about the Connexions Service in Mr Barker's letter.

Given the positive relationship that has existed between our two organisations, these are a cause for regret, though we will obviously continue to support the work of the Prestwich Methodist Youth Association and the Phoenix Centre in any way possible in the future.

MARK DENNIS, Connexions Manager