Under-fire child protection services in Cumbria are likely to be rated good within two years, says an independent expert.

The prediction has come just days after the publication of two critical reviews into child deaths, where professionals in Cumbria were criticised for failing to offer adequate protection to at-risk youngsters.

There has been national publicity surrounding the tragic case of 13-month-old Poppi Worthington, from south Cumbria, who died in suspicious circumstances in 2012.

A high-level review of her case revealed how health professionals saw no need to intervene – despite a series of “red flag” warning signs.

A second serious case review published last week examined the case of Carlisle tot Kye Kerr, whose death in July 2011 prompted a manslaughter investigation. His father was charged with that offence but cleared by a jury.

In Kye’s case, the report concluded the professionals involved had shown “insufficient curiosity” in his family’s circumstances.

Gill Rigg was appointed last year as the independent chairwoman of Cumbria’s Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB), which scrutinises the child protection of key agencies such as Children’s Services, the police, and health services.

She told The Cumberland News she is optimistic about the future, saying there have already been significant improvements since the two tragedies.

“The two serious case reviews we have published were about practice which related back to 2009 and 2012,” she explained, “and I don’t think anybody in Cumbria’s Children’s Services would say they were delivering good services then. The local safeguarding children’s board wasn’t working effectively either.

“But four years on, there has been significant improvement.

“In 2013, safeguarding for this local authority was judged to be inadequate but it is now judged to require improvement, so it’s travelling in the right direction. There is still a long way to go but we want to continue working on it.”

Asked why services had been failing, Ms Rigg said it was down to a combination of factors including leadership, agencies not working well together, a lack of trust between them, and problems with recruiting and retaining staff.

She continued: “We are moving child protection services towards being good, and I am confident we will get there within 18 months to two years.”

These services had recruited a lot of additional staff, and Cumbria County Council was now showing “strong leadership”.

Ms Rigg added: “The most important things are strong leadership and culture – and not having a blame culture. I’m independent and it’s my job to be constructively critical but I’d say the agencies involved are really committed to working strongly in partnership.

“And the people [on the front line] really want to do the best possible job they can.”

In the case of Kye Kerr, the serious case review concluded his death was neither preventable nor predictable.

A former front line social worker, Ms Rigg has worked independently for eight years.