Star Hobson: Bradford Council children’s services to be run independentlyon January 25, 2022 at 3:44 pm

Bradford’s troubled children’s services are to be run independently of the local council, the government has said.

The department will be operated by a trust led by an independent board of directors, but owned by the council.

The move comes after the department was rated inadequate by Ofsted in 2018 and in the wake of the Star Hobson case.

The council’s social services were in contact with the family of 16-month-old Star before she was murdered by her mother’s girlfriend.

The decision to set up the trust followed recommendations made to Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi by the Children’s Services Commissioner in Bradford.

Mr Zahawi said in a statement: “Keeping vulnerable children safe from harm is non-negotiable.

“Where a council is not meeting its duty to do this, we will take action to protect children and put their needs first.

“It’s clear from the recommendations made by the Commissioner in Bradford that the council needs support to improve and so I’m pleased that Bradford council have agreed to establish a new trust that will bring positive change for the council and independent oversight that drives improvements.”

A commissioner was appointed by the government in September 2021 over the “slow pace of change” after Ofsted inspectors had said some children were “at risk of serious harm”.

Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe acknowledged the “pace of improvement needs to quicken” but said the trust would “enable us to focus on delivering consistently high quality care to the children of our district”.

An delayed independent review examining how the authorities responded to five social services referrals in the months leading to Star’s death will be rolled into the national review launched in the wake of the murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, the government also said.

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