SOCIAL services bosses have appointed outside consultants and extra staff in response to a damning report which ordered them to sort out a series of serious problems.
The Audit Commission report blasted the Lancashire County Council with several hard-hitting criticisms in a report published earlier this month.
They included the fact that 13 children on the child protection register in March last year did not have an allocated social worker.
Other criticisms centred around the fact that social workers often don't intervene in cases involving children and adults until the situation reaches crisis point and that a higher proportion of children who had been put into institutional care should, instead, be in foster care.
When the report was published social services chiefs described the report as "over harsh, lacking in evidence and contradictory".
But they have since begun implementing an action plan to remedy problems highlighted and have been to London for a top level meeting with chief inspector of social services Denise Platt.
And three top management jobs in the social services department have been advertised nationally - with the current occupants having to re-apply for their own posts.
A county council spokesman said the job re-advertisements were linked to the Audit Commission report, but that the re-organisation process began before it was published.
Social services chairman County Coun Doreen Pollitt said: "At the meeting with the inspector a full and frank discussion was held.
"We repeated our commitment and determination to work hard to achieve the necessary programme of change and gave our assurance that rapid progress would be made.
"We also confirmed our commitment to use additional outside consultants to support our agenda for change, consultants that we have already appointed.
"Our commitment to increasing staff resources in areas of the directorate where there are particular pressures were also confirmed."
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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