Significant concerns have been raised over the protection of children from physical and sexual abuse in Birmingham, it can be revealed.

Public agencies such as police, GPs, health officials and social workers are still not working together effectively to help protect young people despite recommendations made after the death of Khyra Ishaq, who was starved to death by her mother and stepfather three years ago.

The Birmingham Post has seen documents from the Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board which has raised “significant concerns” and has admitted that public agencies are not working effectively together to identify and protect children at risk.

Slow progress towards improving Birmingham’s failing children’s social services department has also been highlighted by senior council officials, health professionals, the Probation Service and police chiefs who are responsible for delivering a Government-backed recovery plan.

Integrated multi-agency teams of social workers, GPs, health officials, police officers and teachers are at the heart of an improvement plan drawn up after seven-year-old Khyra was starved to death in 2008 by her brutal mother and stepfather at home in Handsworth.

Social workers and education welfare officers failed to intervene, while a subsequent Serious Case Review criticised a lack of co-operation between public agencies and concluded that Khyra would still be alive if the bodies had worked effectively together.

Poor communications between social services, the education department, health trusts and the police, and “poorly focused” assessments of Khyra by professionals contributed to her death, the review found.

Serious Case Reviews into other child deaths in Birmingham found a similar lack of co-operation.

A radical remodelling of Birmingham children’s social services, overseen by Interim Strategic Director Eleanor Brazil, is based on closer partnership working by council, police and doctors in an attempt to identify and help children at an early stage.

But Ms Brazil has already agreed to re-write the improvement plan, just three months after it was approved.

A “refresh” has resulted in one of five themes disappearing and follows a Peer Review in which experts from other councils visited Birmingham to assess progress on delivering improved children’s social services.

There are also concerns about remodelling children’s social services at a time when the department has to identify £20 million in spending cuts.