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The Association of Directors of Social Services has hit out at next year’s 6.5 per cent increase in total social services spending announced in the proposed local government finance settlement, writes Jonathan Pearce.

The total government spending on social services of £11,210 million comprises standard spending assessments of £9,231 million – an increase of 5.4 per cent on the current year – plus ring-fenced or targeted grants of £1,938 million and capital financing of £41 million.

But ADSS resources committee chairperson Liz Railton said the funding did nothing to match the increasing pressures in social services, including rising care costs and growth in the numbers of service users.

"The settlement does not address either the gap between what authorities are actually spending – or over-committing – and what government is actually spending," she said. "Children’s services, in particular, are still under pressure."

The Local Government Association, while welcoming the general increases, has also expressed disappointment at the fact that no extra money has been allocated for social services in addition to that predicted in the Treasury’s spending review of last year.

"It is clear that the allocation has not altered (from the spending review), despite the significant and highly publicised pressure that services for the elderly and children are under," said Local Government Association chairperson Sir Jeremy Beecham.

Beecham also hit out at the increase in the use of ring-fenced grants in the settlement, which for local government as a whole has jumped from 4.5 per cent in 1997 to around 15 per cent for next year, signalling increased bureaucracy and reduced local discretion for councils.

For social services, the picture is worse with ring-fenced funding now making up 17 per cent of total spending. But the department of health said it would announce in the "next few weeks" how it plans to differentiate in the conditions for ring-fenced grants between top-performers and poor-performers.

"Where we do differentiate, the best performing councils will be allocated a targeted grant with no conditions attached – in other words a devolution of power. Those performing less well will continue to receive a ring-fenced grant with conditions attached," the doh said in a letter to councils last week. "This will act both as a mechanism to ensure we can have some confidence in improved delivery and as an incentive to improve in order to win freedoms."

But the ADSS is unphased by ring-fenced funding. Railton said: "We don’t have a problem with money being badged for government initiatives. What we do have a problem with is the core funding for baseline requirements."

Councils have until early January to respond to the proposals.