Stringent new government targets mean the money must be saved over the next two years and assurances by the council that it can do this without cutting back services have been greeted with scepticism.

The Government has introduced guidelines requiring all social services departments to make year on year savings in spending on day centres, residential care homes and facilities for people with learning and physical disabilities.

The council has reviewed its services and identified areas where it can reduce costs. A list of draft proposals was presented to the social services and housing committee on Tuesday.

One road already taken by the council is its decision to turn to the private sector to enable it to fund improvements at its residential care homes.

Under the private finance initiative the private sector will meet the cost of designing, building and maintaining the care homes over a 25-year lease while the council would monitor the care provided.

Other priority areas include re-siting the Annexe Day Centre, the only day centre in the borough that caters for adults with disabilities and relocating people with learning difficulties from residential homes back into the community.

The council is also conducting reviews of the services it offers at its day centres in Whitton and Ham.

Director Peter Wilson said: "Part of the government remit is that the savings should not adversely effect services.

"So we are looking at improving the services we run for less money.

"We will have to make year on year savings, which will get harder every time."

Geoff Pope, chairman of the Teddington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust and a community advisor on the social services committee, said concerns had been raised at grass roots level about how the council could make substantial financial savings on items like home care and still provide the same quality of service.

He said: "It just does not seem possible. It will have an impact on the eligibility criteria. Elderly people will see the criteria getting tougher."

Detailed proposals will now be drawn up by council officers and reported to the social services committee in September.