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Older people could receive poorer services under government plans for users to assess their own needs, a director of social services has warned.

Cornwall director Carol Tozer said her staff had raised concerns that plans in the adult green paper for self-assessment would falter because older people might underestimate their own needs.

She told the Association of Directors of Social Services spring seminar: "What my front-line staff have said is that some older people are very unambitious in terms of what they think they need and this could be an issue."

Tozer said the problem could be compared with that of older people not claiming for means-tested benefits such as the pension credit or council tax benefit.

Staff also believed that self-assessment could lead to better services only for those who shouted loudest. "It could be that some will be much better at self-advocacy," she added.

The government's call for self-assessment is based on a belief that assessments by social workers are often used to ration services rather than meet needs.

The green paper states: "Difficulties such as shortage of staff or resources, problems with communication, or a power imbalance in the relationship can lead to outcomes that may not genuinely address the individual's needs."

It calls for social workers to "navigate" users through services rather than act as "gatekeepers".

But Tozer said the government's perception conflicted with social workers' view of their own work. "At the front line, people still see themselves as advocates," she said.

Several directors questioned the government's claim that the green paper's vision of personalised and preventive services would be cost neutral.

But West Sussex director John Dixon, who co-chairs the ADSS disability committee, insisted the Department of Health recognised the need for extra resources.

He said: "There's clearly a DoH agenda and that needs funding. So it is up to us to help them make that case  to the Treasury."