THE politician in charge of children's social care across Worcestershire has admitted there is "more work to do" in keeping youngsters safe.

Councillor Marc Bayliss says he agrees with comments from an independent safeguarding boss that the county's child protection services need to be better.

The Conservative has also hit out at the exam results of children in care, saying it is "not good enough" for Worcestershire.

Last month the Worcester News revealed how Derek Benson, Worcestershire's new Safeguarding Children's Board chairman, said he "cannot be assured of the robustness" of the service.

It comes at a time when there is a near-record tally of around 700 looked-after children in Worcestershire, costing more than £35 million a year to deal with.

Councillor Bayliss, the cabinet member for children and families, was questioned about it during a full council meeting.

"It's exactly the same as last year when they were able to provide 'limited assurance' - we're at the same level this year," he said.

"We're acknowledging (in a report published for councillors) that we are still on a journey in terms of improving on children's safeguarding and our children in care activities.

"We're working very closely with the chief executive, who is paying a very active role in ensuring the focus of the management remains on delivering that improvement."

He added: "I echo and agree with the comments of the independent safeguarding chair at this point - we have work to do."

During the debate Councillor Richard Udall, who chairs the opposition Labour group, called the comments from Mr Benson "surprising and shocking".

Mr Benson has produced a report citing concerns over the 'flagging up' systems which alert social workers to at-risk youngsters, increasing demand, inconsistent leadership, and being unable to clearly link increased council pending to better services.

During the debate at full council, Councillor Bayliss criticised the differences in educational attainment between looked-after children and other youngsters.

He told the chamber he would "hesitate to call it a disgrace", but labelled it "not good enough".

Back in January we revealed how children in care across Worcestershire fare more than three times as badly as other youngsters for school performance, it has emerged.

Last year just 16 per cent of youngsters in the system got five or more GCSEs graded A*-C, compared to 60 per cent of non-care pupils.

A fresh inspection by Ofsted inspectors about Worcestershire's children's social care service is well overdue.

The number of children in care across Worcestershire was 530 in 2009 but it has risen sharply since then, although it has started to flatline in recent months.

To try and bring the figures down the council is focusing on an 'early help' strategy aimed at intervening quicker before problems escalate.