I was disappointed by a letter from Shas Sheehan in your newspaper (Now is the time for vision, March 13), about Merton Adult Education.

As a Liberal Democrat she is only too aware that it is her own Liberal colleagues in government who have cut the funding for adult learning.

On top of a funding cut of almost half a million pounds over the last few years, we have recently learned of a further government cut of 24 per cent.

I have asked Ms Sheehan to join me in a letter to the Liberal Secretary of State, Vince Cable MP, who is responsible for cutting the funding, asking him to reverse this and previous cuts.

However, based on her record of letting the government off the hook, I am not expecting her to agree to this.

In Merton we have taken a common sense and affordable approach to maintaining an adult education service in the borough despite these government cuts.

We will continue to offer adult education in the borough but in a more affordable way.

Ms Sheehan suggest we copy SCOLA in Sutton without mentioning that it is nearly twice as large as MAE, making them more resilient to the ups and downs of government funding and able to spread their costs over a larger base of courses.

Unfortunately, the option to expand MAE through more government funding is not there. Indeed, funding is going the other way and is being slashed by her friends in government.

I am disappointed that Ms Sheehan has chosen to scaremonger on this subject, as it has unnecessarily distressed residents who want to enjoy adult education services and, despite huge government funding cuts, will still be able to enjoy them thanks to Merton Council's sound approach to future funding.

The fact that she has let her colleagues in Government get away with these terrible cuts suggests to me that she has put her own party political ambitions ahead of the feelings of local residents and students.

Stephen Alambritis

Leader of the council