Transmission: 8pm on 7 June on Channel 4

In the wake of the tragic death of 'Baby P' and other high profile cases of child abuse and murder, Dispatches investigates allegations that child protection procedures and practices continue to be inadequate.

A Dispatches reporter worked undercover in a UK social services department for three months, discovering what child protection services are actually like on the ground. His disturbing investigation uncovers a lack of resources, inadequate staff support and training, high workloads, poor morale and overwhelming amounts of red tape and "box-ticking", reducing the time that social workers can spend helping children. The programme also raises questions about what is actually being done to protect some of Britain's most vulnerable children.

The investigation was based upon evidence which suggested there were legitimate grounds for concern regarding Surrey social services' performance in keeping children safe. This evidence included the fact that, since the end of 2005, there have been seven known child deaths as a result of abuse or neglect in Surrey. In the run up to when our reporter started at Surrey, there had been two national reports in two years which rated Surrey's children's services as among the worst in the country.