A serious shortage of UK experts means that bosses at Herts County Council are looking to Canada to fill vacancies.

The move comes after a surprise inspection in October, prompted by the death of Baby P, showed serious failings in the way child abuse allegations are dealt with in the county.

The most worrying finding by Ofsted inspectors was a backlog of cases dating back to March 2009.

During a meeting of the children's services cabinet panel on Wednesday (November 18), bosses revealed the department had seen a surge in referrals since the high profile Baby P case - a 17-month-old boy who died in London after suffering more than 50 injuries over an eight-month-period.

Since the inspection report, managers and social workers have been working on Saturdays to clear the cases.

In addition new action plans have been put in place to reduce the high number of referrals.


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