by political editor Paul Francis

Council chiefs insist they are getting a grip on shortcomings in services for Kent’s most vulnerable children as an urgent review of thousands of cases uncovered concerns in more than 500.

Kent County Council initiated the review following a damning Ofsted report published last November that labelled services for children at risk as inadequate in virtually all areas.

It has now been disclosed the council’s own review has uncovered ‘concerns’ about nearly one in ten cases so far examined.

A report says that of nearly 6,000 individual cases of children at risk considered by social services, there were concerns about 541 - nine per cent.

The concerns included drift in care planning, delays in management decisions and the timing and quality of assessments of those at risk. Also highlighted were issues with the lack of health asssessments and "lack of focus" in work with vulnerable teenagers.

The report’s publication came as it emerged Kent County Council’s children’s services director Rosalind Turner is to leave her £180,000 job and is to take voluntary redundancy.

Ms Turner, who joined the authority in May 2009 from Suffolk, said she was leaving with regret and had wanted to stay on.

The report, presented to KCC’s cabinet today said action had been taken to address the concerns raised by the review. But it also warned the Department for Education had advised there could be "further systemic problems as yet uncovered."

KCC leader Paul Carter (Con) said ministers had been impressed by the determination shown to turn the service round: "I accept that things are not going to happen in five minutes but if we get the core fundamentals right, we have a very willing and able team of frontline staff who want to put their shoulder to the wheel. There are a number of significant improvements already and we have not been slow out of the starting blocks."

In a report published in November, Ofsted said in half of the cases examined, there were "significant concerns" about care. In the worst of those, children were left unprotected and at risk of significant harm.

Some shortcomings uncovered were so serious, immediate action was needed to protect children at risk.