Schools regulator Ofsted has branded Coventry City Council's children's services as inadequate in the aftermath of the death of four-year old Daniel Pelka.

The regulator found fault with the local safeguarding children board and children's minister Edward Timpson is set to write to Coventry next week with a list of actions.

A Department for Education spokesman said the report shows ‘the pace of change in Coventry has simply not been good enough'.

‘We will now consider what further actions are needed to ensure all vulnerable children in Coventry are sufficiently protected,' the spokesman said.

In its report, Ofsted said senior managers had not tackled weaknesses in care provision quickly enough and that meetings held to discuss at risk children were ineffective and not attended by the police.

Coventry has pledged to boost children's services budgets by an extra £5.6m to fund 12 extra social workers and 16 agency staff, with an additional £4m allocated from 2015/16.

In advance of the Ofsted judgment, the council's finance chiefs had promised funding to ensure the children's services department was fit for purpose, but warned the volume of cases and the cost of care for looked after children meant it would be ‘impossible' to achieve savings targets.

Cllr George Duggins, Coventry's cabinet member for children said staff had struggled to cope with workloads, which had increased by almost 50% within two years.

‘There is no hiding from the fact the report's overall findings are disappointing but many of the problems we face, particularly in the front line of children social care, is down to the fact of the unprecedented volume of work which continues to increase,' Cllr Duggins said.

Birmingham City Council chief executive and SOLACE president Mark Rogers is to chair a reformed children's board to ensure improvements were put in place.

Ann Weir, independent chair of Coventry safeguarding children board said the panel was ‘very disappointed' with Ofsted's report but was determined to tackle the challenges raised to deliver improvements.

Elsewhere, Ofsted has rated as ‘good' Staffordshire CC's services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers in every category – following a three-week study under the tougher inspection regime.

The judgement marks a turnaround for Staffordshire's children's young people and family services departments, which were rated as ‘performing poorly' in November 2011.

Mike Lawrence, Staffordshire CC's cabinet member for communities, localism and children, said: ‘This rating means children in Staffordshire are safe.
‘Not only does it recognise good safeguarding of children in care, with good quality services where people listen and take account of the child's wishes, but good early intervention at the appropriate time in the appropriate way to keep children out of care.'