Notts social services has been commended by Government inspectors as potentially one of the best in the country.

The department, which eight years ago was found to have numerous flaws following the death of Hucknall toddler Leanne White, was praised for its high levels of user satisfaction and "high calibre directorate".

A review, carried out by the Audit Commission and Department of Health, said the department had promising prospects and was serving most people in the county well. Singled out for particular praise was its fostering and adoption service which was commended for its commitment to the needs of service users, particularly children.

The report stated: "The authority can be proud of its achievements to date and can hopefully derive from that pride a greater measure of self-confidence to drive forward the development agenda at an accelerated rate. It has the potential to be one of the best-performing authorities. "The Joint Review Team judges that this authority is serving most people well."

This has been the most thorough review for five years. Inspectors interviewed officers, service users and partner organisations. It marks a huge turnaround from eight years ago when three-year-old Leanne died after persistent physical abuse from her mother's boyfriend.

The case highlighted flaws in Notts social services and 70 recommendations were made to the county council for improvements following a review of the department, published in 1997. Since the tragedy, council chiefs believe the necessary improvements have been made in the protection of children.

Stuart Brook, director of social services, said: "We have worked in the past eight years, since the tragedy with Leanne White to improve on all the 70 recommendations that were made to us in the previous review.

"This latest review now reflects the improvements we have made in these areas as we have now come in the top 20% of authorities in the country for this area. But we are not complacent, we realise we can do more and are trying to improve all the time. I do want to stress that this is all down to the hard work of the staff, it has been a true team effort."

The inspectors highlighted several areas which needed improving. These include the need for more small-unit placements for children in residential care and more services to be commissioned jointly between social services and health authorities. The department had already taken the recommendations on board, said Mr Brook.

Coun Dick Anthony, cabinet member for social services, added: "We were already looking to improve certain aspects of the service that were highlighted in the review and so we completely agree with what they have recommended and are making improvements as we speak."