As the dust settled on the Chancellor’s Pre Budget statement five things become clear.

Firstly, the consensus amongst economists seems to be that council spending will fall in real terms by somewhere between 10 and 15% in the three years from 2011-12 onwards.

Secondly, the main political disagreement is not whether such cuts will take place but when. Labour make the point that making such cuts now might well send us back into recession; the Tories want to proceed anyway.

Thirdly, we will have rising demand at a time of falling expenditure.  Given the urgent need to find some extra funding to implement the Social Work Taskforce report, such a squeeze could not come at a worse time.

Fourthly, councils are likely to retreat even further into carrying out their statutory duties rather than their discretionary ones. That tension has existed at the heart of social work now for some time but it will get significantly worse. One consequence will be that thresholds and eligibility criteria will be pushed even higher.

Finally, the collision of rising needs with inadequate resources will place even greater pressure on the ability of staff and their managers to comply with their duty of care, their Code of Practice and even their statutory duties.

There has never been a time when a clear voice for social services and social workers was more needed to help navigate through these treacherous waters. It makes implementing the Social Work Taskforce Report, and ensuring its funding, an absolute priority for both the profession and those who use services.

You may find the following article is a useful summary of the pressures

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/09/councils-spending-cuts-pre-budget-report