Adoption services in Kent are improving but more still needs to be done to tackle delays and backlogs, inspectors say.

Ofsted has rated the county council's adoption services as adequate in its latest inspection.

It follows an earlier inspection report from 2011 that said the service was inadequate.

The latest report depicts a service steadily getting better, with Ofsted saying there have been "significant improvements" as a result of restructuring.

It also singled out a new partnership with children's charity Coram as helping with the improvements, saying staff described it as inspirational.

It said the considerable drive towards improvement meant leadership and management was rated good.

The report said:"Leaders and managers are ambitious for the service and have a good and
realistic understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.

"Since the last inspection, they can demonstrate a number of improvements which have
resulted in positive outcomes for children."

Of the children waiting for adoption, 71% were placed with new families within a year and other data suggested that had improved even further to 93%.

At the same time, Ofsted said there was still a "significant legacy of children experiencing delays and awaiting placements" and "outcomes for individual children remain variable."

Inspectors also said despite the progress, 141 childen were still awaiting permanent placements with families although half of those were in the process of being adopted.

Cllr Jenny Whittle (Con), cabinet member for children's specialist services said: "The inspectors recognised we are well along the path to creating a service which is good across the board.

"That would not have been possible without our talented and highly motivated social work staff and the partnership we have developed with Coram.

"Everyone in KCC and Coram has ambitions to make it an outstanding service which will achieve the best futures for adopted children and their families."

In recent years, the number of children in Kent needing adoption has substantially increased, putting more pressure on the service.

In 2011/2, 124 children needed adoption compared to 190 in 2012/3, an increase of more than 53%.

Despite this, the number of children being placed with an adoptive family more than doubled from 68 in 2011-12 to 143 in 2012-13.