DISABLED campaigners said they feel "depressed" following a decision by Derbyshire County Council to make millions of pounds of cuts which will affect adult care services.
Around half a dozen people staged a protest before a meeting of Derbyshire County Council earlier today which was to decide the cuts.
Members of the Disabled People Against Cuts action group staged the protest ahead of the authority's cabinet meeting at County Hall, in Matlock, in the hope of persuading it to axe plans to cut £60m from the care budget over the coming years.
Some proposals were approved this morning – including the threshold for services being raised so that only people with "substantial" needs qualify for free care.
The council – which must slash £157 million from its budgets by 2018 – offered a glimmer of hope to protesters by agreeing to look at using reserve funds to make some of the savings that are required.
Nevertheless, Gary Matthews, spokesman for Disabled People Against Cuts, said: "It is a sad day for people in Derbyshire. More than 1,000 people will be deprived of care due to the changes that were voted in."
Derbyshire County Council agreed on a set of recommendations, including the threshold for access to free adult care services being raised from "higher moderate" to "substantial".
This means 2,700 people out of 8,500 receiving council-funded care and support will no longer be eligible, saving £4.5 million per year.
People who miss out will be able to buy care privately.
Another proposal agreed was to lower the amount of income a person can have before they have to start contributing towards their care.
And people who have more than £50,000 of capital or savings, not including homes, will now have to pay for 100% of the support they receive instead of currently, where people with £50,000 to £100,000 pay 25%. The council also approved a charge of £5 per day for transport to adult care services.
But Councillor Clare Neill, cabinet member for adult social care, said the council would not "leave vulnerable people out". She said: "I have been working with the NHS and there will be regular reports so that we can monitor what is happening with individuals. Should their health deteriorate, we will re-assess their needs."
Council leader Anne Western, said she "absolutely empathised" with the campaigners, saying: "This is not what we want to do. We are trying to do the best we can but we can only spend the money we have got."
She said council auditors would be looking through its finances, adding: "I can give you the assurance that we are looking at these figures very clearly to reduce financial cuts as far as we are able to."
But Mr Matthews said it was a "small victory" and that he felt "depressed" by the news. He said: "Let's hope we can put pressure on them to take the situation a lot more seriously."
