KNOWLSEY children's services have made "reasonable progress" in key areas, according to a monitoring visit by Ofsted.
However, inconsistencies in some areas remain a cause for concern.
The monitoring inspection took place on February 24 and 25, over a year since Ofsted found the children's services 'inadequate'.
Inspectors found "reasonable progress is being made in specific areas of practice such as Section 47 investigations, child protection planning, and the auditing of casework."
One area of improvement highlighted by inspectors was the increased stability in the workforce.
Inspectors noted that all social work vacancies have been filled, with low agency numbers, and 20 new social work posts have been created, leading to reduced caseloads, and thereby improving the quality of practice.
This improvement has largely been achieved through significant financial investment by the council.
Other areas of progress include more structured quality assurance processes, regular performance data reviews and effective oversight of practice.
For most children, strategy meetings, which are held when there are concerns about the safety of a child, now demonstrate a good understanding of risk, leading to timely decision-making and actions.
However, issues were noted in some key parts of the service.
Inspectors found that for some children with "clearly identified risks from domestic abuse, strategy meetings are not always taking place in a timely way in the (multi-agency safeguarding hub) MASH."
"The quality of child and family assessments remains poor.
"Assessments are brief in their content, do not consistently consider family history, nor do they identify cultural needs."
It was also noted that, "the quality of practice for children in need remains inconsistent," and there is still "insufficient pace in improving the social work response to domestic abuse".
The report further added that: "Improvements in the quality of supervision and management oversight have largely remained static since the last inspection, and practice in this area remains inconsistent."
Despite these setbacks, staff morale is reportedly high.
Inspectors stated: "Practitioners are positive about working in Knowsley.
"They told inspectors that they feel listened to and are well-engaged in the improvement journey, welcoming regular leadership updates."
They said they could feel a "real change, for the better, in practice expectations and how they work with children and families".
However, it acknowledges the need for increased consistency in achieving successful outcomes for all children and families.
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