Buckinghamshire’s failing children’s services will remain under county council control following a three-month government review.

In November last year Bucks County Council’s (BCC) children’s services were once again rated inadequate by Ofsted.

The department of education (DfE) recruited chief executive of Hampshire County Council, John Coughlan, to carry out a review of the struggling services.

The DfE has concluded there “is no valid reason” to hand the services over to the government, and has advised the council to continue with its improvement plan.

Hampshire County Council has been appointed as improvement advisers to support BCC’s improvement programme.

Cabinet member for children’s services, Warren Whyte, said: “We know there is still much more to do and we have a long road ahead, but this report is encouraging.

“It is a particular testament to the efforts of our frontline staff and management team that we are heading in the right direction. I would like to thank them for their tireless work.”

The commissioner also stated in the report that proposals to create two unitary authorities in Bucks would disrupt the children’s services improvement journey, and set it back two years.

As part of his review Mr Coughlan met with council staff and partners and stated he “strongly endorses the direction of travel in the authority”.