Cameron: Government to intervene more in child protection

In a speech yesterday intended to outline government plans to "help working families and extend opportunities to all", Cameron said child protection will be a "big focus of the next five years".

He said there must be “more accountability” to end child abuse and neglect tragedies such as Victoria Climbié in 2000, Baby Peter Connelly in 2007, and Daniel Pelka in 2012.

He said that despite the fact all of the children were known to social services, nobody took sufficient responsibility.

"We will bring over the lessons we have learned in education where we have intervened quickly and put failing organisations under new leadership," he said.

"We will say to any local authority failing its children: transform the way you provide services, or those services will be taken over by non-profit trusts like those in Doncaster, and partnerships like that between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight."

Cameron’s comments come on the back of increasing numbers of local authorities being rated as "inadequate" by regulator Ofsted.

Earlier this month Sandwell Council became the latest local authority to have its children's services department given the lowest rating.

The local authority, which drafted in specialist consultancy firm Impower in November 2012 in a bid to improve services, was the fifth authority to be graded inadequate in the space of a month.