THE PUBLIC needs to be convinced that a consultation into slashing day care services for pensioners and people with learning difficulties is genuine and that decisions have not already been made, a councillor has warned.

Ceredigion’s social services department will launch a consultation into cutting opening hours and possibly even abandoning the service, following a proposal from cost-cutting consultants Price Waterhouse Cooper.

But Cllr Ceredig Davies has insisted that council chiefs must win over the public and provide assurances that consultation responses will be carefully considered and that efforts to save funding will not be the main priority.

He said: “Some people out there are a bit sceptical that the consultation process won’t change what’s down here.

“Is this consultation going to be seen by the public as something where their opinion will be listened to, as many of these savings have been included in the budget already?”

Cllr Davies said he feared that the public would think that, as the consultants have already put forward the money-saving proposals, the council will have to implement the changes to ensure it finds the savings required to balance the budget.

The proposal for day centres and social activity centres could see the service cut from five days to four, or see the daily hours reduced.

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