The task of implementing the Every Child Matters reforms has left localauthority children's services 100m in the red.
A joint report by the Local Government Association and the Associationof Directors of Social Services (ADSS) found that local authorities arestruggling to stay within their 2005/06 budgets. The report, SocialServices Finance 2005/06, is based on a survey of four-fifths of theEnglish local authorities with responsibility for children'sservices.
A number of factors were identified by the report as causing theoverspend. One of the most important was rising demand for looked-afterchildren services. Many councils reported a rise in the need for fostercare and half said demand for residential care homes also rose. Inaddition, the unit cost of private and voluntary sector residential carealso increased.
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