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divdiv class=story-body readability=23 span class=story-date#13; span class=date13 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time21:09 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; span class=byline span class=byline-nameBy Michael Buchanan/span span class=byline-titleBBC Social Affairs Correspondent/span /span #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The children's services department at Birmingham City Council could be taken over by the Department for Education (DfE), the BBC has learned./p#13; pThe takeover will happen if inspectors from the watchdog, Ofsted, do not see an improvement when they conduct an inspection later this month. /p#13; pThe department is the biggest of its kind in England and has been rated as inadequate for four years. /p#13; pThe council is expected to respond to the BBC's revelation later on Thursday./p#13; pThere have been a number of high-profile child deaths in Birmingham in recent years, including those of Khyra Ishaq in 2008 and Keanu Williams in 2011. /p#13; span class=cross-head'Inadequate'/span#13; pThe department has been rated as inadequate by Ofsted since 2009, a judgement inspectors reiterated last year./p#13; pThe new head of the department said in the summer that improvements had not been made and said he could not guarantee the safety of children in the city. /p#13; pOfsted is due to carry out a further review in the coming weeks and BBC News understands that if some progress is not shown, officials from the Department for Education will take over the running of Birmingham's children services. /p#13; pA spokesperson for the DfE said: We have warned Birmingham that unless Ofsted identify signs of improvement in their next inspection, we will take further action./p#13; pEarlier this year, government officials forced Doncaster Council to cede control of its children's services after years of failure. /p#13; pWith a population of 1.1 million, Birmingham is the most populous British city besides London./p#13; pIn 2010, Birmingham was ranked 13th in a government list of deprived areas, behind authorities such as Hackney and Tower Hamlets in London. /p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center