Councillors in Birmingham have been advised to approve the closure of four day centres for disabled adults.
Birmingham City Council launched a consultation on the future of its nine day centres after committing to cut costs by £1.95m this year and £3.35m next year.
In an online survey, 69% of respondents disagreed strongly with the plans to close four of the services, as did 43% of adults who used the centres and 56% of their carers in a separate questionnaire.
Concerns were raised about people having to adjust to new locations, with some having attended the same centre for more than 40 years, and about extra journey times of up to an hour.
But Birmingham argued that attendance at the centres had reduced ‘significantly’ since 2019, with most only around half full, and said there were 70 staff vacancies.
The council pledged that people would be ‘fully supported to relocate to an alternative service of their choice, which would be equipped to meet their physical, behavioural, sensory and emotional needs’.
Birmingham’s cabinet member for health and social care, Rob Pocock, said: ‘Many councils no longer run in-house day centres, so I’m pleased we have still found the money to keep five going across the city.
‘But we do need to save on costs and the remaining centres do need to be fully utilised.’
The council’s cabinet will make a final decision on the cuts on 15 October.
