He said: "Like myself, I am sure the whole of Coventry will be stunned to learn that Colin Green, former director of children's services at Coventry City Council has gone off to become chair of the safeguarding children board at Tower Hamlets.

"This is a clear example of senior civil servants operating their own network for the benefit of themselves, at the expense of front-line staff who have faced the real challenges on a daily basis."

The Department for Education and Coventry City Council said the appointment was a matter for Tower Hamlets Council.

Tower Hamlets said Mr Green had been appointed by a multi-agency panel in June with all such decisions "based on the merits of each applicant".

All agencies involved said they had learned lessons to avoid another case like Daniel's happening again.