A council has submitted an action plan to education chiefs with the aim of boosting its poorly-rated children’s services.

Medway Council was asked to submit the document by last Thursday setting out how it intends to make improvements following a damning Ofsted report which rated it “inadequate” earlier this year.

Since then, it has been been subject to scrutiny by the Department for Education.

Government commissioner Eleanor Brazil was due to submit her findings to the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Children and Families by Sunday, the result of which is expected to be returned two weeks later.

Ofsted will carry out an action planning visit and the council will be subject to quarterly visits and a reinspection after two years.

Ian Sutherland, director of children’s services at Medway Council, said: “We have produced an action plan to set out the steps we are now taking to transform our social care for children, young people and their families.

“We have set out five improvement priority areas: quality of practice, capacity and capability of workforce, effective leadership and management, quality assurance and performance management, and partnerships and engagement.

“The plan has been put together working with our partners at Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, Kent Police, education leaders in local primary, secondary and special needs schools and the Department for Education as well as seeking the input from colleagues in our Children’s Services team.

“Since the publication of the report, we have already taken a number of actions to make improvements to our Children’s Services.

“This includes recruitment of a number of social workers which has resulted in a significant reduction in caseloads, recruitment of new senior leaders to the service, the establishment of an independently chaired Improvement Board and the creation of a staff reference group to ensure we consult our colleagues in key decisions and seek their input and ideas for service delivery.

“We are also re-shaping the service to better support our practitioners, helping them to work more proactively with children, young people and families.

“This will help us to identify needs and risks faster and achieve positive changes in the lives of vulnerable children and young people and keep them safe from harm.

“There is still much to be done but we are fully committed to transforming the service we provide for children and young people in need of our help and protection, and children in our care.

“Our priority is to ensure Medway’s children thrive, remain healthy and learn well.”

The action plan was discussed at a meeting of the council's Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday, December 3.

The Labour party's spokesman for children's services Cllr Clive Johnson said: "I am confident that the offices formulating the action plan have hard worked hard to make sure that they are addressing the key issues raised by Ofsted.

"My concern is whether there will be sufficient resources to make sure that the action plan can be implemented.

"The commissioner's report has only just been submitted so we are in a period of uncertainty for Children's Services in Medway."

"There are real problems with social worker recruitment and retention, and the range of experience and expertise within the social worker teams and this is a real priority.

"I would have welcomed a clearer commitment from the portfolio holder that adequate funds and resources would be allocated to ensure rapid improvement is seen for these vulnerable children."

Cllr Josie Iles (Con), portfolio holder for children's services, said: "There are 10 recommendations within the Ofsted report so the action plan is addressing the improvements we have got to make.

"The changes are ongoing and it's a work in progress in terms of making those improvements."

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