PLANS to give children's services in the county almost £5million have been rubber stamped by council bosses.

Cabinet members at County Hall had recommended an injection of an extra £4.8million should be given to children's services in light of a damning Ofsted report.

Inspectors branded the current setup 'inadequate' - prompting the councillor in charge of children's services to target getting a 'good' rating within the next 18 months.

The cabinet's recommendations were officially ratified at a full meeting of Buckinghamshire County Council on Thursday, September 18.

The money will be released from the authority's reserve funds.

Earlier this year an inspection from Ofsted said there were "widespread and serious" failures by the council's safeguarding services in protecting the welfare of vulnerable children in the county, adding "too many of them are at risk of harm".

Last year council bosses noticed a sharp increase in the number of referrals, requests for information and contact from other organisations it received.

Requests for information increased by 71 per cent and referrals - requests for action to a perceived or potential threat - rose by 70 per cent to 7,675.

Just under half of those referrals came from the police and health partners. The council said referrals from police went up by 143 per cent and those from health by 139 per cent.

Council Leader Martin Tett, who proposed the motion the funds should be released, said: "These are very large increases, and although the number of referrals has begun to stabilise, what we cannot anticipate properly at the moment is what will happen as a result of more recent publicity with regard to national figures, also the situation in Rotherham and potential other cases more locally.

"I think we have to be prepared for potentially another sharp increase in referrals and that again is a very serious issue for us."

Angela Macpherson, cabinet member for children's services, seconded the motion and said: "It is essential, particularly following the sobering Ofsted report that we provide sufficient capacity to deliver our statutory safeguarding responsibilities plus provide adequate staffing provision to enable us to tackle the increasing workload.

"Our staff deserve great praise for their dedication and commitment when they are under great pressure from increasing workloads and complex often distressing cases.

"The bottom line in all of this is that we, the council, have the responsibility to improve our services for our most venerable children so that we can deliver the best possible outcomes. I am totally committed to this work and my aim is to get us back to a 'good' judgment within 18 months."