Parents of children with autism have railed against “senseless” cuts to adult social care services.

Haringey Council plans to cut its adult services budget by £30 million over the next three years.

The full round of cuts includes “winding down” Osbourne Grove nursing home for the elderly and closing Linden House residential home for people with learning disabilities.

Up to three out of four day centres for people with learning disabilities would be closed, and there would be reductions in care packages, reduced grants to the voluntary sector and cuts to substance misuse and sexual health services.

Mary Langan, whose son James has autism and severe learning difficulties, said the proposals would leave the most vulnerable people in society bearing the brunt of the budget cuts.

She said: “James needs specialist support to help him to take part in everyday activities like going to the shops or swimming. He’s a very anxious young man, and he becomes distressed and can start hitting himself if he doesn’t get support.

“Haringey has all these plans about care in the community and helping James at home, but then they’re cutting the care packages that would pay for support workers to help James if the day centres are to shut.

"And then if those support workers disappear, we would need a social worker but the number of social workers is being reduced too. It’s cuts all the way down, and they make absolutely no sense.

“These services are not just things to make someone’s life nicer, they’re absolutely essential support structures for severely disabled young people.

"Haringey wants to shift the burden of care for people like James back onto families, but many families will just not cope without support.”

Martin Hewett, of Victoria Road, whose 22-year-old son has autism, argued that no research had been done to make sure that disabled people would not be severely harmed by the cuts.

He also criticised the language used in the consultation document as “meaningless”, saying parents and carers are not clear on what words such as “re-ablement” mean.

Councillor Peter Morton, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “Over the past month we’ve been seeking the views of residents on the council’s budget and corporate plan, which will set out our spending priorities for the next three years.

“In this budget, the council will have to find £70 million worth of savings due to government funding cuts. This means that difficult decisions concerning frontline services will have to be made.

“But no specific changes to services has been decided upon yet; and in cases where changes would have a substantial impact on service users, a decision will not be made until further consultation has been undertaken.

“The council has a statutory duty to meet the needs of people who require adult social care services, and we will ensure that whatever proposals are brought forward ensure we can continue to meet this duty.

“Our ambition is to develop a range of provision for people with complex needs in Haringey that has a greater emphasis on helping people to live independently at home - which many people have told us they want – and reduces social isolation.”