Leader of Northamptonshire County Council Councillor Mick Young said: "We have more than 600 children in our care and like any good parent we have a responsibility to provide them with as good a start in life as possible.

"We believe that the changes we have proposed can improve children's services and help more children to stay with their own families or those who come into care overcome some of the problems they face."

Director of social care and health Ian Winter added: "These changes will mean a different way of working for many of our staff.

"Social work teams will target their efforts on supporting children, assessing family needs and planning for the individual child's future.

"This means that children who come into care will have clear plans for their future that are reviewed and monitored regularly.

"Foster carers are central to our services but we want to target the support we give them in a more focused way. To do this we will make sure that the needs of younger children are treated differently from those of older children.

"Some foster carers will concentrate on working with smaller children while specialist services will be developed for adults who provide homes for teenagers."

A wide range of organisations and individuals are being asked for their views on the plans. The consultation process will last until the end of January and its findings will be presented to the county council in February.