Ofsted tells two children's services departments to improve

Both Peterborough and Cheshire East were rated as "requires improvement" by the regulator.

In each authority inspectors judged there to be no widespread or serious failures that leave children being harmed or at risk of harm.

But each were found to not yet be delivering good protection and help for children, young people and families.

The rating represents an improvement for Cheshire East, which had previously been rated "inadequate" for child protection in April 2013.

A previous inspection of safeguarding and child protection arrangements in Peterborough deemed services to be "adequate".

Inspectors in Cheshire East said leaders, managers and partners share a strong commitment and ambition for children and families to receive the best help and support.

However, creating a stable and competent workforce was found to be a "key challenge".

"The local authority has worked hard to improve recruitment and retention and to secure a sufficiently experienced and competent workforce," the report states.

"This inspection found improving stability, reduced caseloads for the majority of social workers and greater continuity for children.

"However, high turnover of staff has reduced the effectiveness of training, continual professional development and challenge through supervision over time.

"It has also hindered the embedding of statutory responsibilities in some key areas such as the timely identification, assessment and monitoring of private fostering and connected persons’ arrangements."

In Peterborough inspectors said that while the local authority has taken action to address recommendations made at its last inspection, progress has been affected by safeguarding pressures, high turnover of managers and staff and a heavy reliance on agency social workers.

"This has resulted in some inconsistent practice and instability and drift for some children," the report states.