ST LAWRENCE Residential Care Home, Churchill Drive, Crediton, a day care centre which operates from the home, as well as the Chambers Day Care Centre, operated from premises at Market Street and the Crediton Short Breaks Scheme are to close Devon County Council has confirmed. The council has announced plans to close 20 care homes and 17 day centres as part of measures to try to cut its spending by a third to £400m a year by 2017. The Conservative-controlled council says running its own care homes, day centres and short break schemes are too expensive to run. A total of 260 residents of council-run care homes face moving into private homes over the next 18 months to slash the council's social care spending by £10.7m. More than 750 jobs could be lost in the care home closures and another 250 jobs could go in council-run day centres as the authority closes 17 of them to save £1.7m a year. Only two council-run residential care homes, with specialist dementia facilities, will remain open - in Newton Abbot and Torrington. Devon County Council says homes cost an average of £903 per bed per week compared to £426 a week in the private sector. In Crediton, the Chambers Day Care Centre and Short Breaks Scheme are set to close next month, with the St Lawrence Home due to close early in 2015. The 29-bed Crediton residential care home caters for those with dementia, old age, physical disability and Alzheimer's. In the consultation documents published alongside the announcement about the closure it states that the home has "low occupancy resulting in a high unit cost per person per day and there is a range of alternative provision locally." It added that this includes three providers who have expressed an interest in expanding their provision in the Crediton area, but said that this information was being held as "commercially in confidence" at the present time. The day care centre at St Lawrence, which is for older people (65 plus), has nine users and eight people attend the Chambers Centre and use the Short Breaks Scheme. Crediton Town Council has opposed the St Lawrence Home closure proposal. Julie Farrell, who works at St Lawrence, said: "They will be closing St Lawrence in Phase 3, which means closure proceedings could begin around January to March next year. "We are very much a family at St Lawrence so it is a sad day for the staff and relatives but mostly for the residents who will eventually have to be moved out into the public sector." Social media sites, including the "Courier" sites were full of comments, including from Paul Tootell, who wrote of his "absolute disgust" at plans to close St Lawrence. He added: "Don't the councillors realise these vulnerable people (St Lawrence Home residents) will suffer the traumatic experience of having to uproot and try and fit into a new strange environment. "Their health could suffer. "Cost, it seems, is more important than the welfare and well-being of our elderly." Allyson Rice wrote: "I just can't see where all our old and vulnerable people are going to be re-housed – this is disgusting." Sarah Dickinson commented: "This is outrageous. As our population ages we need to be opening more of these facilities not closing them. The cost of private nursing care is beyond most people's budgets. "Crediton has been well served by St Lawrence for as long as I can remember and my heart goes out to all of the residents and the amazing staff." The union Unison said it would be challenging the "shocking example" of "devastating cuts". Unison spokeswoman, Joanne Kaye, said: "This shameful decision made by Devon County Council is yet another shocking example of the devastating cuts being placed on the shoulders of the most vulnerable people in our society. "These vulnerable adults are likely to face confusion and anxiety about today's announcement and the council will be left without a valuable and crucial service. "It is clear that the council had already made their minds up, they had a strategy in their sights." CHALLENGE Liberal Democrat county councillors have said they will challenge the Devon County Council care homes closures plan. The councillors will ask for the proposals to use private care homes to be looked at by a scrutiny committee on June 26. The party wants more public debate on the closures and to scrutinise the evidence for the cuts. DCC announced its decision to close the homes after months of extensive consultation about the futures of its care homes and day services. The council received around 2,000 responses to its consultations on the futures of the two services, with most responding to the proposals for day services. Councillor Stuart Barker, the council's cabinet member with responsibility for the council's care homes and day services, said: "Nothing will happen immediately. This is a process that will take time and we will do this with great care and sensitivity. "In taking the decisions I want to ensure that everyone who is entitled to have a service from us gets it, be it residential care or a day service, and that they will continue to receive a service that meets their needs." The final recommendation report for the role of Devon County Council as a provider of day care services is available online at: https://new.devon.gov.uk/dayservices">https://new.devon.gov.uk/dayservices . The final recommendation report for the role that the County Council has as a provider of residential care services is available online at: https://new.devon.gov.uk/residentialreview">https://new.devon.gov.uk/residentialreview . • What do you think of the plans to close St Lawrence, Bank Chambers and the Crediton Short Breaks Scheme? Share your views with fellow Courier readers by emailing a short letter with your comments to: [email protected]">[email protected] .