The case of tragic Eli Cox, from Sheppey, is one of four serious case reviews on Kent County Council’s social care radar.

The five-month-old baby suffered 28 fractures before he died of a catastrophic brain injury in April 2016.

His mother Katherine Cox, 33, and her boyfriend Danny Shepherd, 25, were found guilty of causing his death. They have been told they face up to 14 years in prison.

KCC confirmed a serious case review is under way to establish if his death could have been prevented by the authorities.

These are undertaken after a child has died or been seriously injured and abuse or neglect is thought to be involved.

Figures just released show the authority has four serious case reviews ongoing. It also has about 500 social workers who, at any point, are working with about 10,000 children.

Nationally, children’s social care services are struggling, with growing demand for support leading to 75% of councils in England overspending on their children’s services budgets by more than half a billion pounds, according to a report released earlier this month.

However, the support in Kent seems to be bucking the trend in certain areas.

Ofsted inspected KCC children’s service centres in March and found the council to be delivering a “good” service to children and families, an improvement from “inadequate” in 2010.

Its report concluded KCC tackled the increasing demand on children’s services effectively, social workers developed “strong and constructive relationships with children”, services were well-targeted and co-ordinated to meet specific needs of communities and the adoption service provided an all-round positive experience to children and adopters.

However, one area which required improvement was children who need help and protection.

A KCC spokesman said improvements were required in the promptness of interventions, the variable quality of some assessments and the effectiveness of Adolescent Risk Management panels (ARMs) – which are for vulnerable young people at risk of harm – and a plan was in place to fulfil the report’s recommendations.

Roger Gough, KCC member for children, young people and education, said: “We will continue to build on this and address the improvements needed within the service to ensure children and families receive the commitment they deserve.”

n Anyone concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000, while young people can call Childline on 0800 1111.