Childcare in Richmond needs urgent investigation, according to another damning report on the councils social services.

And to add insult to injury, the department was last week named and shamed for its miserable performance by Health Secretary Alan Milburn.

But council chiefs have rejected the findings of the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) claiming they dont tell the whole story.

Nineteen out of 50 categories investigated need to be reviewed including four which required urgent attention according to the report.

The four categories are educational qualifications of children in care, children in care absent from school, reviews of child protection cases and the statementing of adults requiring care.

The department achieved top marks in 14 categories including the stability of placements of children in care, adoptions and home care for the mentally ill and elderly.

The figures released last by the Department of Health (DoH) are the latest in a list of bad news to hit the social services department.

A year ago, the SSI savaged the departments inspection and registration unit for failing to carry out adequate inspections on old peoples homes.

While in June, three senior officers were given their marching orders after it emerged the social services budget was heading for a £2million overspend.

And continuing pressure on the budget means the council has to plug a £ 4million hole which could mean massive council tax increases next year.

Council chiefs are seeking an urgent meeting with Mr Milburn after he named Richmond as one of the councils performing least well over the past three years against the DoHs social services performance indicators.

A council spokesman said: Although the indicators are an important measure of performance, they do not tell the whole story. The figures are not comprehensive and their interpretation is sometimes difficult.

He added that the figures were based on the last financial year and the council had already acted to improve performance in a number of key areas.

Council leader Serge Lourie said: We accept there are some areas in which the councils performance in social services needs to improve, and our staff are already working very hard to make those improvements.

However, we do not accept that our performance against these indicators means that we are failing and for this to be asserted is like a bolt from the blue.

By.Steven Shukor