Cuts loom as Bradford Council faces £68m funding gap

Bradford Council has warned it could have to make "drastic cuts" as it faces a £68m budget shortfall.

The authority said the rising cost of children's social care was one of the "main reasons" for the budget pressure.

It said it faced a budget gap of £23m, adding the Bradford Children and Families Trust (BCFT) was facing a £45m gap by the end of the financial year.

The council has called on the government to "urgently improve how they fund local government".

The BCFT took over the running of the city's children's social services in April.

The trust - which is run independently of the council but funded by the authority - was set up after the education secretary stripped the council of control of its children's services in the wake of an Ofsted inspection that identified "widespread failures in all areas".

Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe urged the government to ensure the BCFT is "properly funded".

"In Bradford, we know that we have the youngest population in the country as well as a high level of social need," she said. "This needs sustainable funding from central government accordingly.

"The Chancellor will present his Autumn Statement to Parliament on 22 November, setting out the government's spending plans. It is his chance to put the deficit in children's social care right.

"If he does that, we won't have to make the drastic cuts that we are currently having to consider."

The council said BCFT expected to spend £242m on children's social care this year, 25% over the trust's budget and more than the local authority's entire £233m annual council tax income.

Eileen Milner, BCFT's chair, said the trust's business plan would reduce pressure on the council's budget in the long-term by cutting its use of agency staff and expensive residential care placements for children.

She said the trust had "already implemented early demonstrable improvements, but such a fundamental level of change takes time".

The council said it had been forced to cut its spending by £350m since 2011 due to falls in government funding.

It has already halted all non-essential spending and recruitment and is conducting a full budget review to identify savings.

Its executive board will meet to discuss the scale of its financial pressures on 7 November.

A government spokesperson said: "We have been engaging with Bradford Council and the Bradford Children and Families Trust around the financial challenges they face.

"Ministers have already commissioned an external assurance review of Bradford Council and we will consider next steps once the review has been finalised."

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].