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Social services departments in Wales have overspent by £13m in this financial year, a figure three times higher than last year, a report from the Association of Directors of Social Services reveals.

Children's services are the main budgetary pressure and only two of the 22 Welsh councils are projecting an underspend for 2003-4, according to the report.

To offset the overspend in children's services, eligibility criteria for services to older people have been tightened in many Welsh councils to the point where the threshold is now high, the report warns.

Nonetheless, it says services for older people is still the second most significant area of spending.