Nearly 60 children on Coventry City Council’s at risk register were not allocated a social worker to help them through their crisis.

That was just one of the findings of a damning Audit Commission report published today criticising the city’s social services department.  The report, compiled in conjunction with the Social Services Inspectorate, highlighted delays between assessment interviews and a decision on what action should be taken.

It concludes that children at risk were put in further danger by the city’s social services department, which failed in its statutory duty to look after them.

Health minister Paul Boateng has written to council bosses ordering them to make drastic changes within six months.

Care for elderly was also slated in the study, which revealed that only nine per cent of people over 75 were allocated home helps or given assistance to stay at home.  The Audit Commission felt this course of action would lead to more pensioners being admitted to hospital or residential homes.

City council bosses spent less on social services than any other similarly sized authorities. Last year the total outlay was £62 million.  But the breakdown in child care and ongoing assessment of two thirds of all its children in foster care rendered much of that worthless.

An Audit Commission spokesman said:

"The council had no way of knowing what was happening to the children without a social worker. They totally failed in their statutory duty to protect these children."

The report conceded that Coventry did have a commitment to innovation and quality, but this had been overshadowed by the shortfalls.

Avril Nottage, deputy chief inspector of the SSI, said:

"The first priority of any social services department must be to provide safe, secure and efficient basic services.

"The Joint Review report, together with an inspection of child protection services, show that Coventry has lost sight of this in recent years."

But the city’s social services director Bill Hendley was quick to defend his department’s record.

He said:

"We welcome the broad recommendations of this review but do not accept all of the details as being fair and accurate.

"We have already got action plans in place to take the department forward and we are confident the service will now grow."

He said he felt the people of Coventry were happy with the service from his department, which he stressed was in the top 30 per cent of national authorities.

He accepted criticism of the child protection services but added that they were "not representative of the whole service".

A detailed examination of all aspects of the report will be carried out in the coming weeks and months, with the report as its focus.

Councillor Dave Chater said:

"We have already taken action to improve these services and have given a commitment to the Government that they will be improved.

"We are confident we now have a safe service and we will be improving on it all the time."