Protection for at-risk children 'unsatisfactory' in England

The spending watchdog says help for at-risk children is "unsatisfactory and inconsistent".

It urges the Department for Education (DfE) to "show a sense of urgency and determination" in delivering change by a promised target date of 2020.

The DfE says children's safety is an "absolute priority" for government.

The National Audit Office (NAO) report assessed the government's progress in improving child help and protection, after the DfE concluded in 2010 that children's services were not good enough.

It concluded progress was poor, with only 23% of local authorities judged by watchdog Ofsted to be good for protection services.

The NAO found spending on children's social work, including on child protection, varied widely across England.

But it could establish no correlation between a local authority's rating by Ofsted, the number of children in need and how much was spent per child in need.

The report also found arrangements for developing, identifying and sharing good practice were "piecemeal" and little information was available on outcomes for children who are, or have been, in need of services.

It said high social worker caseloads, vacancies and use of agency workers played a part in the quality of services.

The NAO said the DfE must set out how it would transform children's services, as promised, by 2020.

"To achieve its new goal of improving the quality of all services by 2020 the department will need to step forward and show a sense of urgency and determination in delivering on their responsibilities," the report concluded.

An increasing number of children in England need the protection of local authorities.

Referrals to children's social care have increased by 15% over the past 10 years from 552,000 in 2004-05 to 635,600 in 2014-15.