Bradford Children's Trust to 'go live' in 2023

The trust being set up to run children's services in Bradford will not be in place until 2023, according to a council report.

Bradford Council was stripped of control earlier this year following the murder of toddler Star Hobson.

The announcement followed a review that concluded the council "lacked the capacity and capability to improve services at pace on its own."

According to the report the trust will not "go live" before 1 April 2023.

The trust, to be called the Bradford Children's Trust, will be chaired by Eileen Milner, the former boss of the Care Quality Commission.

Steve Walker and Eleanor Brazil will act as commissioners to support Children's Social Care Improvement and the establishment of the trust.

The report to the council's executive explains the authority will remain legally responsible for the service, but not the day-to-day delivery, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"During this intervention period the Children's Trust will be responsible for delivering the changes that are deemed necessary by the Commissioners, the Department for Education and the Council in order to improve quality and outcomes," it states.

It also states recruiting staff by 1 April 2023 might "be challenging, since the most suitable candidates may need to give notice to their current employers".

However, the council leader, Susan Hinchcliffe said the report showed they were making good progress in setting up the trust.

"We've been working closely with the Department for Education so that we use all the talents, skills and knowledge that we have both nationally and locally to make the improvements we need to see for the children of our district," she said.

Star Hobson bled to death after suffering "catastrophic" injuries at the hands of Savannah Brockhill, 28, her mother's "violent-tempered" girlfriend, at the couple's home in Keighley.

Brockhill was jailed for a minimum of 25 years for her murder and Star's mother, Frankie Smith, 20, was sentenced to eight years for causing or allowing her death.

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