ESSEX County Council is still not good enough at keeping children safe, according to Government inspectors who released a report today.

The latest Ofsted report on how the council looks after children through its services, including schools and children's homes, found that although staff are dedicated, the systems needed to keep children safe are not yet followed closely enough and some youngsters are still at risk.

The council was told by the Government that it must improve its children's services in December after it was found that nearly 2,000 vulnerable children were not being helped and a new director of schools, children and families was appointed.

The report states that there has been improvement since then, but there is more to be done.

The council's cabinet member for children's services, Sarah Candy, said: “We have never had any doubt about the huge task in front of us, and are under no illusion that we still have some way to go on our improvement journey but the steps we have made are significant and promising.

“Feedback from the report said that children in our care felt safe, significant child protection concerns are responded to immediately, we provide a good range of specialist mental health and substance misuse services and that we can demonstrate significant progress has been made.”

Have you been affected by the council's children's services? Call reporter Clare Hardy on 07795 507440 or email chardy@london.newsquest.co.uk