DAY care centre opening hours, two-carer home visits and in-home visits to the most vulnerable people in Ceredigion face being slashed by county councillors.

The measures are all options laid out in a council report aiming to cut the authority’s social services budget.

The report, compiled by consultants Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC), who earn commission for any savings they can identify, proposes over £4m in savings from the county’s social services department by 2018 - plans that would cost jobs, and see the county’s most vulnerable adults have services affected.

The council-commissioned report said the social services department faces “an unprecedented level of pressure” and that changes need to be made.

Among the plans are what the council calls “opportunities” to slash the opening hours of the county’s three day care centres for people with learning disabilities.

Options under consideration include maintaining the service by reducing opening hours by two hours a day each day; opening for only four days a week; reducing the time each ‘client’ spends at the day centres; or even outsourcing and decommissioning the service entirely.

The report said that staff could be reduced “gradually” as the new measures come into place, with the day-care service staff costs coming in at over £1.2m.

“There are many options available to councils looking to meet needs that present during the day in a more cost effective way,” the report said.

See this week’s south editions for the full story, in shops now or online by clicking the Digital Editions tab at the top of the page