Efforts by Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council to cut the number of inappropriate domestic violence referrals was praised by Ofsted inspectors during its unannounced visit last autumn.
Marlyn Banham, head of the council's social care, children and young people's services, says that, until last year, social workers were "being swamped by domestic abuse referrals involving children and young people".
The area's high domestic abuse rate, coupled with social workers spending time investigating far too many inappropriate referrals, contributed to the problem.
According to figures out last year, Wigan has the worst domestic abuse rate in Greater Manchester, with 20,500 incidents between 2006 and 2009. But a social work intervention was required in just three per cent of cases referred to children's social workers.
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