Just three months after being told there were "widespread and serious failures," Croydon Council has been allowed to continue running its children's services.

In August, Ofsted published a damning report that said there had been "significant deterioration" in Croydon's children's services since 2012.

Those services were then put under Government control as inspectors rated both the council's children's services and the Croydon Safeguarding Children Board (CSCB) as “inadequate.”

The Department for Education has now given control back to the council.

Earlier this month, children’s commissioner Eleanor Brazil recommended that council continues its work to deliver the necessary improvements after reviewing the council’s plans and the progress that has been made so far.

This decision was formally taken by Robert Goodwill, minister of state for children and families who has agreed the recommendation of the commissioner.

In his letter to council leader Tony Newman, Mr Goodwill said: “I am encouraged by the commitment the leadership of the council has demonstrated following the inspection and the steps that have been taken to better resource and build capacity in children’s services.”

Leader of the council, Tony Newman was pleased by the decision.

"We are still at the beginning of our improvement journey and we have a long way to go, but it’s good that the commissioner and the minister feel that we are on the right track and have confidence in our direction," he said.

"It will not be a short journey – the challenges are real and we need to make sure we improve things for the long term, not just deliver a quick fix.

“I want to thank all of our children’s services staff for their hard work and commitment to help us to tackle the issues – they continue to work in the most challenging of circumstances, making a real difference to the lives of some of our most vulnerable children and families, every day.”