Council chiefs say they are "disappointed" after Children's Services were once again branded inadequate by Ofsted, and pledged this week to "change this conclusion rapidly" during the first cabinet meeting since the damning report was revealed.

Bucks County Council (BCC) chiefs met on Monday to discuss the report released last month, in which inspectors warned the county's children's services are "still not good enough" and exposed "critical weaknesses".

The Department for Education will now take the lead in improving the service, and a commissioner will be appointed in the coming weeks, according to cabinet member for children's services, Warren Whyte.

He said: "The procedure that happens now is very much set down by the Department for Education, so we are at their beck and call as to what happens next, a commissioner will be appointed in the coming months. 

"We have Ofsted popping in for an action manual visit at the end of the month, so that will be protocol to see what their view is on what we are up to. We will be very interested to see what their initial view is and they will be making further visits, monitoring visits, as they did previously."

The inspection, which took place in November, found high turnover of social workers, high case loads and poor recording meant "inconsistent and too slow progress" had been made by the county council since the last inspection in 2014.

Leader of BCC, councillor Martin Tett, said: "We actually value our social workers very highly in this area and right the way across the council, and anything we do or say shouldn't be taken as direct criticism of them."

"We are clearly disappointed by this result, but we accept the findings and we are determined to do everything we need to do, to change this conclusion very rapidly."

To view the report visit: https://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/documents/s109025/Report%20for%20Ofsted%20inspection%20of%20Childrens%20Services.pdf