THE Social Services department at Surrey County Council has been classed as "disappointing" in the first star rating performance tables for the country's 150 social service departments.
Surrey is one of 82 county councils to receive just one of a possible three stars, with only 10 county councils performing worse with no stars at all.
Prospects for both adult and children's social services were described as "uncertain" in the performance table.
The new rating system will enable people to to tell at a glance how their local council is performing, as well as showing any significant improvement or deterioration.
However, the rating was defended by a spokesperson Heather Gilbert who highlighted that Surrey County Council receives the lowest level of grant from central government of any local authority in the country, despite the high living costs in the South East.
Mrs Gilbert blames lack of funding and staff recruitment problems for hampering the efforts of Surrey's social services and does not feel the rating is an accurate reflection.
"The Social Services Inspectorate has acknowledged that we are performing well against many of the key performances indicators and also making good progress against its modernising agenda.
"Those where we are not doing well are, in the main, directly linked to the availability of funding and staff. For example, the availability of single rooms for older people going into care homes and the availability of foster parents."
To help rectify the problems, the council has adopted the "People First Initiative" comprising an integrated children's service aswell as an Adults and Community care department which will allow the council to focus more on the needs of vulnerable groups.
David Munro, Executive Member for Adults and Community Care, said:"We will continue to lobby government for additional funding to meet the needs and expectations of people in Surrey, but we are also continuing to do all we can locally, in conjunction with our partners, to improve services and performance."