Social services costs not reflected by settlement, says LGA

10 Jan 02
The Local Government Association has attacked the recent local government finance settlement for ignoring the increased demands being made on councils over personal social services.

11 January 2002

In a response distributed to Public Finance, the LGA welcomed the settlement announced by Local Government Secretary Stephen Byers in December for its 7.4% increase in government support and the spending priority given to education.

But it added: 'We regret that the resources devoted to personal social services have not increased by any more than the forecast totals in the Spending Review 2000.

'This is at a time when LGA members are reporting severe and increasing levels of demand for social services, particularly for children and the elderly, and local authorities are spending more than £1bn over total SSA [standard spending assessments] in order to meet this demand.'

The LGA criticised the settlement for failing to honour the recent local government white paper's commitment to tackling 'excessive' ring-fencing, saying it had increased the number of specific grants. It said: 'We look forward to working with the government in order to ensure that the commitment to curbing the growth in ring-fenced grants becomes a reality.'

The LGA described the increases in total standard spending for police and fire services as 'disappointing' and said that the settlement had failed to address underlying problems such as the increasing pension burden.

LGA members were due to approve the response officially on January 10 when the association's leading lights were to meet local government minister Nick Raynsford to discuss the settlement.

PFjan2002

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