The council recently commissioned a review into how aspects of children's services were run because it was concerned about the standards of care being offered to vulnerable children and families.

The independent report, by consultants Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, highlights a number of areas of concern, particularly around: the council's Initial Response Team – usually the first point of contact for children and families needing children's social services; the Family Support and Child Protection Teams; and systems for recording information about cases.

Calderdale Council's Director of Children and Young People's Services, Janet Donaldson, says that it was imperative for her to take immediate and decisive action to address the issues highlighted in the report.

"The state of affairs which the report uncovered is unacceptable and I want to reassure the people of Calderdale that we will take all necessary action to make sure that we will provide the high quality services our children deserve.

"The practice of some members of staff is of concern and as a result people have been suspended, which is a neutral act, but the decision has been taken in order to facilitate a full and thorough review of management practice.

"It is not appropriate for us to comment further on this at this stage other than to say that we are following the council's agreed processes.

She said that among the measures already taken, the council had:

- Taken immediate action to address those cases highlighted by the service reviewers where there were specific concerns.

- Introduced a Single Initial Response Team, so that there is one point of contact for children and families needing help.

- Put a special team in place to ensure that each area of the service improves and improves quickly.

- Appointed an Improvement Board, which is chaired by the chief executive, to ensure that there is real and sustained improvement.

- Started an in-depth review of the management and organisation of the service.

"The report highlights that we are not doing well enough and we have already taken swift action to tackle the areas of concern and will continue to drive forward improvement," she said.

Calderdale Council's Cabinet member for Children and Young People, Coun Craig Whittaker, said the safety of Calderdale's children was paramount.

"All councillors have a responsibility as corporate parents to the children who are in our care. We need to ensure, first and foremost, that they are safe and that they receive the help and support they need promptly.

"I was concerned about the standard of children's social services and I raised this with Janet Donaldson, who was appointed in August. Janet has taken swift action to get to the heart of the issues.

"This report, which was commissioned in October last year, is about the council being honest with itself and rooting out those areas where improvement needs to be made.