A children's watchdog has promised to overhaul its inspection methods after it revealed a sharp rise in "inadequate" children's services across England.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) on Wednesday published its annual performance assessments (APAs) for 147 local authorities.
The APAs revealed eight councils as "inadequate" for keeping children safe - compared to four last year. Four councils were also judged as "inadequate" overall for children's services - compared to none in 2007.
The number of councils judged to be "good" or "outstanding" in the contribution they make to improving services overall for children and young people decreased from 78% to 73%.
Ofsted said it found the results a "cause for concern".
Commenting on the APAs, Chief Inspector Christine Gilbert said: "I am concerned some services provided for the most vulnerable children and young people remain inadequate. Where this has been found in the APA, we have clearly identified where improvements are needed.
"We would expect those working in children's services to address these issues as an urgent priority with support from their local government office. We will be inspecting next year to ensure they make good progress."
Ofsted recently came under fire when it emerged that last year its APA rated children's services at Haringey Council in north London, the authority at the centre of the Baby P scandal, as "good".
But this year, the now-notorious council was graded as "inadequate", both overall for children's services and for keeping children safe.
The three other local authorities graded as inadequate overall for children's services are Doncaster, Milton Keynes and Surrey.
