Children's services in Hertfordshire have been singled out for praise by government watchdog Ofsted in its national 2016 Social Annual Care Report.

Hertfordshire County Council was praised for supporting the development of newly qualified social workers, along with the leadership programme for senior social work staff.

The national report also praised the council's new family safeguarding model, which is the first countywide multi-disciplinary child protection service in the UK.

The chair of the council's children services, Richard Roberts, said: "We recognise that we ask a lot of our social workers, which is why we are committed to giving them the support and tools they need to do a good job and the development opportunities to become leaders in the field.

“In addition, our new way of working in safeguarding represents a great hope for the future, which is why so many social workers are keen to work in Hertfordshire and be part of this exciting venture.

"No other local authority in the country is providing this level of extensive support to families in need, giving thousands of children a better start in life.”

A recruitment drive began after the council received a £4.86m grant from the government at the start of 2015 to help fund the new family safeguarding model.

It saw 55 experienced social workers and other professionals swiftly join the new safeguarding teams.

There are now 236 members of staff working across 22 family safeguarding teams.