A REPORT into Swansea's troubled social services has been branded both disappointing and encouraging by councillors.

The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) presented its report to Swansea Council into progress made since an intervention board was up by Assembly Deputy Minister for Social Services Gwenda Thomas last year.

The new report highlighted the fact that improvements had been made, but the council remained "inconsistent" for providing social services and "uncertainly placed" to sustain and improve services.

Mrs Thomas acknowledged the improvements in the Senedd on Tuesday, but commented that progress had not been fast enough.

It means the intervention board will remain in place for the next six months.

Speaking in the council chamber on Tuesday, cabinet member for social services Nick Tregonning praised staff for their dedication and commitment.

"It's a tribute to the hard work being put in by the staff within children and family services," he said.

"I have been impressed by their morale in what's been a very difficult year.

"However, I can't disguise from you that we are disappointed.

"We would have liked to have done better.

"We can be encouraged that we have put the building blocks in place to move the services forwards.

"We must maintain this progress, that is something everyone in the council will want to do."

Improvements had been made since the intervention board was put in place, and the review committee acknowledged there had also been a "significant increase" in workload, adding to pressure on the staff and the system during the past 12 months.

Councillor and Labour leader David Phillips said: "The Deputy Minister has given us six months to make significant improvement.

Progress

"While there is undoubtedly momentum for change, the rate of progress must speed up considerably if we are to meet this target. "It is clear that the clock is ticking."

The intervention board will meet in July to discuss progress, then again in September for a "reality check."

Councillor Paxton Hood-Williams, vice-chairman of the council's social services overview and scrutiny board, called on the CSSIW to be more specific about the rate of improvements at the next reviews.

He said: "I know we have remained 'uncertainly placed', but it would be useful to know how far we've moved towards the next category of 'well-placed.'

"We would like to know how much improvement had been made.

"As it is, we don't really know how we are doing."

He added: "We are going to have to find a way to manage demand, as oppose to reacting to it."

Conservative leader Rene Kinzett voiced particular concerns about children's cases not yet allocated to a social worker, which was marked as an area of improvement.

CSSIW assistant chief inspector Jonathan Corbett said unallocated cases did pose a "risk" and emphasised that it was important children were allocated a social worker quickly.