BLACKPOOL social services chiefs have received glowing praise in the House of Commons for a report on proposed improvements for children in care.

Social services minister John Hutton hailed the resort's management action plan, which details a three-year programme of change to the system for "looked after children", as excellent.

It was created with the slogan "quality protects" in mind, which in essence means the better the quality of facilities and methods of looking after children, the better protected they will be.

And Daphne Sanders, Blackpool Borough Council's assistant director of children's services, was keen to point out that the current system of child care was not what was being praised. "We are not perfect and we realise this", she said.

"But the measures for future improvements have been recognised as realistic."

Daphne added that among the priorities for improvement were recruiting more adopters and attracting more staff for the family placement and disability teams.

Blackpool's management action plan was one of only eight read out in Parliament, and these had been selected from around 150 which were deemed impressive.

Daphne said: "The congratulations in the Commons is a tribute to everyone who's contributed to recognising the importance of the needs of children in the town."