SOCIAL workers in Hampshire are set to boost their ability to protect vulnerable children from abuse after winning £4 million worth of Government funding.

The cash injection will pave the way for a dedicated missing, exploited and trafficked team to help children and youngsters who repeatedly go missing.

Intervention teams supported by volunteers will also be formed and be specialised in working with families where domestic abuse, substance misuse or mental health problems are an issue in a bid to stop children going into care.

Admin staff will also be recruited to slash the time social workers spend in offices doing paperwork.

The investment comes as a highly-critical serious case review published today revealed a catalogue of failings by English authorities meant the scale of the child sexual exploitation was not recognised and opportunities to tackle it were missed.

In Oxfordshire alone there was as many as 373 children identified as potential victims in Oxfordshire over 16 years.

Welcoming the funding from the Department for Education's (DfE), county children's services boss Councillor Keith Mans said: “We have a proven track record of performance, as recognised by two safeguarding inspections by Ofsted, the most recent in March 2014, that found children's services to be 'good' with 'outstanding' elements.

“We have consistently afforded a high level of priority to children's social services yet pressures on the service continue to rise and this will be a continuing challenge in the face of further reductions in government funding.

“Through this bid, our aim is to develop the foundations for a whole system change to create the right conditions and capacity for professionals to work even more effectively with children and families in order to get it right first time and reduce the number of referrals or repeated interventions.”

The investment will be shared with the Isle of Wight Council which has a partnership with Hampshire County Council children's services.