News

More than half of local authorities are already in a worse financial position than at the same point last year, according to a new survey carried out by the Association of Directors of Social Services and the Local Government Association. And a further 25 per cent anticipate no improvement on last year's performance.

The latest research, carried out in July and published this week, underlines the pressures on social services' budgets highlighted six months ago in a similar survey that predicted a £205 million overspend in 2000-1 (News, page 3, 1 February). The new survey finds that, despite concerted efforts to control costs, social services departments overspent last year by £183 million.

Overall, the survey confirms the pressures of need, demand, statutory duty, recruitment and retention, market capacity, and cost increases faced by the social care sector.

It also shows that local authorities are covering the shortfall by budgeting to spend above the level of standard spending assessment "to the tune of some £1 billion".

ADSS resources committee chairperson Brian Parrott said the findings "reinforced the scale of the budgetary pressures" faced by social services departments and identified some of the areas of pressure, including winter pressures, children's services and the short-term nature of government funding.

The report acknowledges the impact of the government's direct funding of winter pressures or health authority transfers but identifies the "worrying knock-on implications" of funding these services in future years.

Eighty-five per cent of authorities saw additional health-related funding as significant for improving their performance in dealing with delayed hospital discharges. But more than half the authorities anticipate not being able to maintain or increase their level of services during 2001-2. Furthermore, half do not expect their share of the additional promoting independence grant to cover the cost of additional care packages entered into over the last winter.

The survey also identifies the particular pressures faced by children's services, which accounted for about two-thirds of last year's budgetary overspend. The ADSS and LGA have welcomed the further central government consultation and analysis being carried out in this area.

"We need to secure improved government funding on a longer term, planned basis so authorities can plan for investment in improved services rather than worry about the fragility of short-term, one-time injections of money," said Parrott. "It is mainstream funding that needs improving."

LGA social policy director John Ransford added: "Although resources have clearly grown above inflation in recent years, there's a major gap now between resources available and demand."