PARENTS and carers have made an emotional plea to council chiefs to scrap cuts to services for some of Southampton’s most vulnerable residents.

Council bosses have proposed axing a city care home, a respite centre and day services for adults with learning disabilities.

But they were met with an angry response by parents and carers affected by the proposed cuts at a meeting last night.

The proposals were put forward by Labour council bosses earlier this year as they look to make more than £30 million of savings for 2015/16 alone, as reported by the Daily Echo.

The proposals include closing Woodside Lodge, a residential care home for adults with dementia who are 65 or older, and respite centre Kentish Road.

They have also proposed cutting back on day care services for adults with learning disabilities, which are run from community centres across the city.

The proposals could save the council £900,000 in 2015/16 and £1.8 million in 2016/17, and consultation on the proposals will run until October 23.

Council chiefs faced a series of tough questions from the carers of people with learning disabilities and organisations working with them at a meeting of the overview and scrutiny management committee last night.

When asked about the purpose of the proposals, council health chief Cllr Dave Shields said: “The aim is to improve services, but also we need to meet the demand for improvements within a reducing financial envelope – those are the twin objectives.”

However he was called “disingenuous” by one carer, who argued that the sole reason was to make budget cuts.

Council finance chief Stephen Barnes-Andrews said the council’s worsening financial situation meant that “you have to take some harsh decisions.”

Cllr Shields argued that the changes could result in better services for some people and urged as many people and organisations to take part in the consultation as possible.

Addressing the meeting, Phil Allen, 44, who cares for his partner’s daughter Victoria, who has Down’s Syndrome, said: “Kentish Road is a huge part of her independence. This could have a horrendous impact – you would be affecting an enormous number of people.”

Daniel Mar-Molinero, 37, who helps care for his uncle Michael Dutton, who is blind and has learning difficulties, told the councillors: “You should be improving the service, not the budget.”

The Rev Brian Strevens, from Southampton Mencap, urged the council to halt the proposals, saying: “It is finance-driven. We should be looking at other avenues to raise money in these instances, such as the city’s art collection – one Rodin could go a long way.”

Afterwards Mr Allen’s partner and Victoria’s mother, Amanda Guest, 49, said: “We want them to think again. We want them to manage facilities better and we want them to build more.”