NORTH Yorkshire County Council has been highly praised for its children's and educational services.

An Ofsted report labelled education outstanding and other children's services good.

The county underwent two inspections by the team, which said a high percentage of youngsters enjoyed school, attended regularly and gained good qualifications.

It found strong links between schools and partner organisations, meaning high numbers of youngsters take advantage of education, employment and training.

However, the inspection team said that, while teaching provision for vulnerable youngsters was good in some areas, it was lacking in others.

In its comments on children's services, the team found the level of teenage pregnancies well below the national average.

It also found that most youngsters felt safe and those at risk where identified.

However, the team said that child protection measures were only adequate and did not always work well enough to reduce and stop abuse.

Ofsted found a co-ordinated approach to healthy lifestyles and tackling drugs, alcohol and sex education.

But it found the service was let down by a shortage of staff in specialised areas like paediatric nurses.

An Ofsted action plan calls for the council to look into improving several areas of its services, including reviewing child protection and speeding up its initial review of suspected abuse cases.

Work should also be done to deliver a better standard of service for youngsters with learning disabilities or similar problems, the team said.

Councillor Caroline Patmore, an executive member of the children's services, said: "It was a hard inspection and we have never had such a complex and in-depth inspection. We are very pleased with the report. It was a very helpful inspection and we now know what we need to do to put a few things right."

Meanwhile, an independent inspection team has assessed North Yorkshire County Council as performing well with a strong focus on value for money.

The Audit Commission's report, published yesterday, said the council consistently performs above minimum requirements with ambitions to improve people's quality of life.

Mark Kirkham, Commission senior manager, said: "The council has a good understanding of the challenges faced by the diverse communities that make up North Yorkshire."

Inspectors praised the council for joint working across the public and private sectors, its efforts to support rural communities and its range of opportunities for older people.

Other positives included strong leadership and educational achievement.

Areas for improvement included better co-ordination of the council's approach to the needs of black and minority ethnic communities, better response to complaints and strengthened internal systems.

Mr Kirkham said: "The leadership of the council is passionate about its ambitions for the county and the needs and aspirations of local people are at the heart of its service planning."

Copies of the report are available from the county council or the Audit Commission website at www.audit-commission.gov.uk/report