THE council is “absolutely dedicated” to providing older residents with the best possible care despite proposed cuts, a spokesman for the authority has said.

Cabinet members will tonight be asked to agree a package of £10m of savings made by cutting jobs and outsourcing services.

A total of £1.7m will be slashed from adult social care including nearly £500,000 saved by implementing the government's drive to personalise services, which has already seen the closure of Crownfield Road Day Centre in Leytonstone.

The cuts have been slammed by Unison and opposition Conservative group leader Matt Davis.

But a council spokesman said: “ First and foremost we must state that we are absolutely dedicated to providing our older residents with the best possible care and ensuring that they are getting the services that they want and need.

“In line with this, we aim to support more people at home; offer them greater choice in the services available to them and, where possible, make sure we can act early before people require more extensive care packages.

“These changes aim to standardise the system across the board, enable people to control their own budgets and make their own choices and make sure we allocate funds according to the differing levels of care required.”

The job losses in adult social care are all vacant posts, and no individual will be made redundant, the spokesman added.

Other cuts in the draft budget proposals include cost-cutting in the housing department and the outsourcing of the management of council buildings, a move Unison has vowed to fight.

The draft savings proposals will be agreed by cabinet at a town hall meeting tonight.

The full budget, including council tax rate setting will be decided at a later meeting of the full council.

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