A radical shake-up of the child care system could see child protection contracted out to privately funded agencies, according to reports.

The move is reported to be in response to the death of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie whose case exposed widespread failings in council-run services.

The Sunday Telegraph says new bodies called Children's Trusts will be set up to oversee child care.

We need to reform the system that delivers children's services

Health minister Jacqui Smith

Their responsibilities will include school excursions, special education requirements and youngsters on the at risk register, the paper said.

The independent 'public interest companies' are expected to run services currently in the hands of council services which have been criticised following Victoria Climbie's death.

Eight-year-old Victoria died after months of abuse at the hands of her great aunt Marie Therese Kouao and her aunt's boyfriend Carl Manning.

She had 128 separate injuries on her body when she died, in February 2000, after months of suffering.

Climbie report

The inquiry into Victoria's death heard that she could have been saved if failings in the social services in her north London borough had been highlighted earlier.

Both Kouao and Manning are serving life sentences for the child's murder.

The public inquiry has concluded and is expected to report with radical recommendations to reform Britain's child protection services in the autumn.

Victoria Climbie had 128 wounds on her body when she died

The Sunday Telegraph says ministers have decided to act before Lord Laming's Climbie report is published.

The former chief inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate has suggested he will call for changes in the way police, health and social services share child care duties.

Health minister Jacqui Smith told the paper she thought the system that delivers children's services needed to be reformed to "prevent children like Victoria dropping down gaps between different agencies".

She said the trusts should remain under the control of elected councillors but the paper says there is pressure in government to sever links with local authorities.

It says all child-welfare responsibility could be delegated to new management teams from the private sector.