THE improvement notice on Kent County Council’s children’s services has been lifted.

Children’s Minister Edward Timpson praised the progress of the department which has achieved much-improved Ofsted reports in all three areas of the service in the past year.

It is a stark contrast to 2010 when the services were found to be ‘inadequate’ sparking a rigorous improvement programme.

Cabinet member for specialist children's services, Councillor Jenny Whittle said: "This is great news and I would like to thank all staff for their hard work and determination.

"We have already received endorsement from Ofsted for the work we have done so far and the lifting of the improvement notice is the next step.

"However, we are not complacent and we remain totally focussed on continuing these improvements, which we hope will eventually result in an outstanding service for Kent’s children."

Ofsted's report into Safeguarding, Children in Care and Adoption all judged the service to be 'adequate' with areas of good practice.