Two options to improve children’s services in Worcestershire will be explored fully.

Cabinet members at County Hall have asked officers to draw up full business cases for two different ways of running the services for children and young people that the county council provides.

In January this year an Ofsted report found the services were inadequate and listed a number of failures and a commissioner appointed by the government said three months ago that the services must now be run by a body external to the county council.

The two options are either a company wholly owned by Worcestershire County Council, or a strategic partnership with another local authority.

An options appraisal by officers of a number of different methods said that the two which will have business cases made are the best.

A report to cabinet said: “The wholly-owned company [was identified] as a more desirable service model for in-scope services. This model has also demonstrated implementation activities in line with the agreed Department for Education timescale, in part due to its favourable procurement implications.

“It is for these reasons that this model scored the highest.”

“The strategic partnership with another local authority scored highly against a number of criteria: tax and VAT implications, procurement and managing risk.”

Councillor Andy Roberts, cabinet member with responsibility for children and families, said: “We remain committed and determined to improve the lives of children and young people in Worcestershire.

“Our vision is for Worcestershire to be a wonderful place for all children and young people to grow up and ensuring we have the right way of delivering children’s social care for our county is a priority for us.”

The full business cases will be presented to cabinet by March next year, and the council aims to have moved over to whichever model it selects to deliver children’s services by April 2019.

Ofsted’s report from inspections in October and November 2016, said “inconsistent leader-ship and an insufficient number of staff at all levels contributed to a fundamental weakness in practice”.

The response to child sexual exploitation was also “not thorough enough" Ofsted said.