The body that is supposed to look after vulnerable children like Peter Connolly is "not fit for purpose", MPs have warned.The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) has "failed to get to grips with fundamental weaknesses in its culture, management and performance". The organisation represents children at risk in the family courts. But it was overwhelmed by a 34% rise in its casework following the Peter Connolly (Baby P) case, the report by the Commons' Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found.

There is now "chaos across the family justice system" as a consequence of poor management, low staff morale and high absence rates, the report said. "These problems have been to the detriment of children," the report warns.

Margaret Hodge, the committee's chairwoman, said: "Cafcass was ill-prepared for the very large increase in care cases in 2009-10 which followed the Baby Peter tragedy and caused chaos in the family justice system."It is still dealing with a legacy of low morale, unacceptably high levels of sickness absence and underperformance by some staff."The report found that court advisers took on average 16.1 days of sick leave, compared with the public sector average of 8.3 days in 2009.

Cafcass insisted it had taken "robust action" to improve the service and was "fit for purpose". Peter, initially referred to as Baby P, was 17 months old when he died in Tottenham, north London, at the hands of his mother Tracey Connelly, her violent partner Steven Barker and his brother, Jason Owen, in August 2007. He suffered more than 50 injuries despite receiving 60 visits from social workers, doctors and police over an eight-month period.