Baby P council named among the worst for child services

The London council in which Baby Peter died was named among the country's nine worst-performing authorities for children's services today.

This is more than double the number rated lowest last year.

Ofsted deemed as "poor" the children's department of Haringey along with eight others including Birmingham, Doncaster and Essex in its annual assessments.

The others in the worst performing category - which named four councils last year - are Cornwall, Leeds, Rotherham, Warrington and Wokingham. All have had recent government intervention, and Haringey and Doncaster are included for the second year running.

Ofsted's annual ratings of 152 English authorities, revealed today as part of Comprehensive Area Assessments covering a range of public services, found 10 delivered "excellent" services and 93 "good".

The remaining 40 authorities are said to be adequate for a range of areas including child protection, childcare, schools, social care, learning and skills.

Councils rated excellent include Camden, City of London, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston-upon-Thames, Lewisham, Richmond-upon-Thames, Tower Hamlets, and Wandsworth.