Social service chiefs were today ordered to investigate how they review child protection cases.

Government performance figures for Oxfordshire gave the department just one out of five for the way it scrutinises child protection.

Cases should be reviewed every six months when a child is taken off the at risk register. But the department is failing to meet the Government-set target. It has also been asked to investigate the effectiveness of how they help adults with learning disabilities to live at home, the availability of single rooms in old people's homes and the low number of people who receive a statement of need a written document of how care will be provided for people who need it.

Figures released today show how social service chiefs in every local authority rate in 50 key areas. Although not compared against other departments in England, Oxfordshire would be around that middle if a league table was compiled. The majority of its services were said to be good or very good and scored three or four out of five.

It got full marks for the stability of placements for needy youngsters and for the effectiveness of admissions of people over 65 to residential or nursing care. A spokesman for the department said they accepted they had to speed up reviews of child protection cases.

He said: "In Oxfordshire we work quickly and efficiently so that children spend only a short time on the at risk register and few return to it."