Coventry children's services rated good eight years after 'inadequate' inspection

Daniel Pelka died after being starved and abused by his mother and her boyfriend in 2012

Children's services in Coventry have been rated good by inspectors, eight years after being branded "inadequate" following Daniel Pelka's death.

The four-year-old died after being starved and abused by his mother and her boyfriend.

The report by Ofsted praised the "significant investment" and "drive and determination" by the city council.

Councillor Patricia Seaman said the authority "couldn't be more pleased and delighted with the rating".

Inspectors said most children in the city were getting the "right level of support at the right time".

The voice of children is important in Coventry, they added, and said social workers were positive about working in Coventry.

Councillor Patricia Seaman said her department was "working to the best of our ability"

Inspectors spent nearly two weeks in June evaluating the services which were rated as "requires improvement to be good" in 2017.

The authority was told of areas it can improve including its response to children aged 16 and 17 who are homeless, which inspectors said was "inconsistent".

Mrs Seaman, the cabinet member for children's services, said there had been a lot of work to do following Daniel's death in 2012.

She added they could not guarantee "at any one time" they could stop a child dying at the hands of their parents.

"There will always be cases, but what we say as an authority is we are working to the best of our ability," she said.

Social worker Alexandra Capitani said the team in Coventry wanted to keep improving

Nearly 1,000 people work in the department, with 350 social workers out every day, the services' director John Gregg said.

He said staffing levels had grown with investment which had been needed due to "the increase in the demand for services".

One of their social workers, Alexandra Capitani, said case loads were now at a good level and they wanted to keep improving.

"I think we just need to keep doing what we're doing, trialling new pilot schemes that are going to potentially benefit families and young people," she said.