Niall Dickson BBC social affairs editor

A new report by the government's chief inspectors joins a long line of well meaning attempts to safeguard children from violence, abuse and neglect.

We have struggled to create an effective web of child protection from the first inquiry into the death of Maria Colwell in the early 70s.

The latest hearings, 30 years on, into the tragic death of another little girl, Victoria Climbie are a reminder of that failure.

The chief inspectors' analysis suggests that for all the improvements - and there have been some - the arrangements remain fundamentally flawed. Why have there been so many reports, so much heartbreak?

They have become the whipping boys and girls for a system that has always been under strain

First it is because this government like its predecessor has - as yet - failed to raise the status of child protection staff.

In particular, social workers, who make complex decisions with life and death consequences, are still paid a pittance.

They have become the whipping boys and girls for a system that has always been under strain and may well now be under more strain than ever.

Just about everyone accepts that their training is inadequate, and although it is not stated publicly, there has been concern for some time about the overall quality of applicants for this tough and emotionally demanding work.

Years to address

The resulting staff shortages further increase the pressure on those who remain, which in turn encourages high turnover in the most pressed communities - a vicious circle with vicious results.

This is a much more complex business than many realise

The training is being lengthened and strengthened and a new General Social Care Council has been set up to register practitioners and establish standards.

But this is long-term work - it will probably be years before it has a measurable impact on the way services are delivered or how they are regarded.

The new report also underlines the need for senior managers in all the main public services to take their commitments to child protection more seriously.

This is not just about social workers - the chief inspector of constabulary makes the point that forces make the right noises but do not match this with resources.

This is not macho police work and it suffers as a result.

Secondly, this is a much more complex business than many realise.

Inadequacies of systems exposed

Individual practice involves difficult dilemmas, balancing competing demands often without all the facts being available - mistakes are inevitable.

And thirdly trying to make a whole range of different agencies with different agendas and cultures work together has proved harder to achieve and sustain than many realised.

The chief inspectors' report has highlighted just how much still needs to be done to make these organisations gel and it has exposed the inadequacy of the current co-ordinating bodies in the area of child protection committees. They were found to lack authority.

Fundamental changes

All this leaves the government with a lot of work ahead.

The chief inspectors' report will be looked at alongside the results from the Laming enquiry into Victoria Climbie's death.

The debate could well be between those who want more far reaching structural change and those who fear it

Together they are likely to form the basis of fundamental change.

Ministers have already acknowledged that co-operation between agencies needs to be improved - putting the child protection committees on a statutory basis looks like a bare minimum.

The debate could well be between those who want more far reaching structural change and those who fear it.

The former want a separate child protection service, perhaps overseen by some form of national body.

The latter insist that is unnecessary - they believe better prevention and co-ordination will only come about if all agencies have continuing responsibility for protecting children.

It is not clear which way the government will go.