LACK of 'joined up' care for the most vulnerable children in Buckinghamshire could lead to tragedy, says a top county councillor.

The children are those in county council care and live with foster parents or in children's homes. There are 260 of these children in Bucks.

Cllr Margaret Aston is the cabinet member for children and families, the first time responsibility for children has been in one person's hands.

She said the children came from disaffected backgrounds with lots of problems.

She said: "They come from very troubled families and bad parenting backgrounds. If we can give them the right environment they will be better parents themselves in the future. They are still not getting the help they need. One day there will be a tragedy."

The main problems are lack of staff and the fact that the bodies there to help children with education, home life and health, are not talking to one another. For instance, care workers in homes cannot get children to go to school or stay in, or a doctor's notes about a child may take months to get to a new GP if the child moves from one foster parent to another. Children slip through the net because all the information isn't available to all the people who deal with the child, or because of buck passing or delays.

A new group called Education of Children in Public Care (ECPC) has been set up which should link health schools and social services. The county council may apply for Government money to help tackle exclusions. County councillors are being made aware that they are in effect the children's parents and must know about them and visit children's homes in their patch.

There's also an extra £500,000 in the council budget this year to help tackle the staff shortage.