Children's services provided by Somerset County Council previously criticised for failing to keep children safe are to be inspected by government officials for a whole week - and a meeting will be held in Wells on the subject beforehand.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will be jointly putting the council's services under the microscope over a five-day period to see if services have improved in the last two years.

The Somerset Parent Carer Forum has also organised a session for families to have their say, which will be held at Tramways in Wells on Friday March 5 at 7pm.

Local parents and carers are being asked to submit information about how their needs are being met by the local authority. The results of the inspection will be published later in the year.

Ofsted found the council's children's services to be "inadequate" when it inspected in early-2015, stating there had been "a corporate failure to keep children safe" due to staff turnover, lack of scrutiny and a "culture of mistrust".

This report resulted in sweeping changes being put in place to improve services being offered to vulnerable children and families.

The council's performance rose to "requires improvement" following a further full inspection in November 2017.

Inspectors said the council had "created a culture of openness and willingness" and reduced staff turnover – but they also noted the quality of services provided across the county "remains variable".

A smaller scale inspection, focusing solely on social workers, took place in January 2019.

In a letter to director of children's services Julian Wooster, inspectors noted there were "areas of practice that need to be of a better standard" and said short-term improvements put in place for children's benefit were "not always able to be sustained".

Inspectors will arrive at County Hall in Taunton on Monday (March 9) and are expected to remain in the county until Friday (March 13).

The council has put out an official request for information to parents and carers – including those who look after children or young people with special educational needs or disabilities (known collectively as SEND).

Specifically, it has asked parents and carers to communicate how well their needs (and the needs of those in their care) are being met by the council.

Councillor Frances Nicholson, cabinet member for children and families, said: "This inspection is an important milestone for the council and its partners.

"It is our opportunity to demonstrate the work that is going on across the county to help and support children and young people with SEND.

"We know there are areas of strength to build on, and, of course, we also know there are areas where we need to get better. Inspections like this are challenging, but they're a chance to learn and make improvements.

"I encourage children and young people and families to complete the online survey to give the inspectors a realistic view of how the service is meeting their needs."

To take part in the Ofsted online survey, the quickest and easiest way is to fill in the online survey or webinar via the red button below before 11.59pm on March 10.