A MUCH-LOVED day care centre in Knutsford is at risk of being closed down as the borough council looks at ways to save money.

The Stanley Centre provides opportunities and support to the elderly and adults with learning or physical disabilities five days a week and has done for almost 35 years.

But a proposal from the Adults and Health Committee for Cheshire East Council’s medium-term financial strategy (MTFS) suggests the Bexton Road centre be decommissioned.

Should the centre close, the council estimates it would save £229,000 in the upcoming financial year (2023/24).

The MTFS, which includes the proposal, is on the agenda for Monday’s (January 23) meeting of the Adults and Health Committee, and states the move would ‘not affect individuals’ rights or access to appropriate day opportunities’.

It adds Stanley Centre staff would be redeployed within Care4CE – the company which runs the facility on behalf of Cheshire East.

The centre has previously been saved through popular support in the town back in 2012.

Hugo McCorkell, a parent of a Stanley Centre service user, said: “If the centre is closed it will be devastating for all those currently attending.

“It was previously suggested the people at the Stanley Centre could be catered for at other facilities throughout Cheshire East.

“Can you imagine how awful it will be for people to spend most of their day being loaded on and off mini buses and trundled around the county every day, winter and summer?

“It seems to me the people putting forward this proposal to close the centre have little or no thought for the wellbeing of the daily users of the Stanley Centre.”

In a report being put to the committee, a Cheshire East executive director said: “The inflationary pressures affecting the whole of the economy have a bigger impact on adult social care than the economy in general.

“[This includes] the rate of pay inflation in the sector being higher than average, energy utilisation in care settings being very significant and fuel costs affect the cost of delivering domiciliary care.

“In preparing the 2023/24 budget it is estimated the growth requirement for adult social care will be £23m based on forecast of demographic growth and the full year effect of the 2022/23 pressures.

“Some of this will be funded by the £6m growth already earmarked by the council and built into the MTFS to address a growing ageing population and the increased complexity of need that is being experienced.

“The council has also committed a further £2m increase in the departmental budget to meet the cost of price increases.

“In addition, Government is providing further specific grant of £5.2m to meet adult social care pressures.

“However, the increase in council funding and the additional grant funding is still not sufficient to offset the total cost pressures forecast by the department and therefore additional measures to those already built into the MTFS will be enacted to achieve a balanced budget.

“The department will also continue the implementation of its learning disability strategy, moving away from buildings-based care provision to more personalised approaches for day opportunities and respite care and working with NHS colleagues seeking more sustainable approaches to meeting the long-term needs of working-age people who draw on care and support.”