Old people's homes run by Essex County Council are again under the threat of privatisation.
The council has called a meeting to discuss the future of 32 homes across the county on July 28.
Social services committee spokesman Graham Redgewell said today: "There has been a meeting arranged to consider the future of the homes.
"One of the options they will be considering is privatisation but it is unclear at this stage whether this will include any, all or some of the homes."
It is yet to be determined whether the meeting will be in public or private. Four county council-run homes - including Marylands in Colchester and Monken Hadley in Braintree - have already been earmarked for privatisation subject to a consultation period which ends in September.
The latest moves are in response to the need for social services to cut old people's care by up to £1.23 million. Any sell-off would represent a U-turn after a dramatic one-vote majority saved the homes from sale last December.
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