A LABOUR borough councillor has slammed proposed plans by Cheshire East Council to cut Care4CE and reduce spending by £4.2m.

Cllr Sam Corcoran, Labour, voted against the proposed budget with his party amid concerns over the negative effects it could have on mental health in the borough.

Care4CE, the council’s in-house provider aims to provide social care that enables vulnerable people with various disabilities, including those with mental health, to safeguard their wellbeing.

The proposals would cut £4.2m a year in services currently provided by Care4CE, and it has been suggested that savings could potentially be made in reducing the terms and conditions of the staff.

The Sandbach Heath and East councillor spoke of his worries for the ‘desperately needed’ service.

“Eastern Cheshire has the lowest level of investment in mental health amongst comparable areas and is in the bottom 10 per cent nationally,” he said.

“If you have a high quality, experience group of people, the last thing you should do is to break up that group and damage their morale with job insecurity.”

A speaker from Unison present at the meeting outlined that the savings had not been agreed with the unions.