A GROUP for disabled adults say that government cuts are threatening the future of day care in Dorset.

Friends of the Ridgeway Day Service in Weymouth say they want to hold a full consultation process about the future of the service with workers’ unions and Dorset County Council.

The Ridgeway group has 160 adults ranging from having learning difficulties to severe disabilities.

Chairman of the friends group David Harris said that he had serious concerns about the proposals put forward by Dorset County Council.

He said: “They should talk to all the parties at the same time.

“They have spoken to the unions and they have spoken to us and they said they want to protect service users.

“We think we are getting spin.

“They are diving to conquer, that’s how it feels.

“We need to get everyone together to talk.”

There are currently three options for the future of adult day care services on the table. Option one would see day care remain under county council control and it is likely there could be some day centre closures and staff redundancies.

Option two would see the county council set up a local authority trading company to run day centres and option three would see day care provision put out for a private company or charity to run.

Mr Harris, whose own son Daniel, 28, suffers from Down’s syndrome, said: “We’d like everybody to talk to everyone. The first meeting would be huge but then we could get a working party together, with staff, users and councillors and go forward together.”

He added: “We accept there will be some losses and some changes.”

Mr Harris added that he felt the group weren’t getting any answers.

He said: “It’s not right. These are some of the most vulnerable people in society and we need to look after them.”

Dorset County Council director for adult and community services Debbie Ward said that a full three-month consultation was under way for people to express their views.

She said: “Day services make a vital contribution to meeting people’s needs. We want to ensure these services can be maintained and developed for the future.

“But this means that some changes will be required, both to operate within the tough new financial constraints and also respond to changing demands in the kind of support people want.”