Hand over children’s social services in Bradford to an independent trust | Bradford

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Bradford Council has been stripped of control over children’s welfare after an investigation after the murder of 16-month-old Star-Hopson found serious shortcomings in the service’s management.

Social workers will be transferred to a not-for-profit children’s fund that ministers hope will help “push rapid improvements” to a department that has underperformed for years and is struggling to up its game.

Najma was beaten to death by her mother’s friend in September 2020 after months of abuse. Despite numerous warnings from family and friends and five visits by social workers and police officers to the family home, no adequate protective action was taken.

Savannah Brockhill, 28, of Bradford, was jailed in December for at least 25 years for Starr’s murder, while her mother, Frankie Smith, 18, received eight years for causing or allowing a child’s death.

A local review of protective practices has now been included in the lessons that explain why more was not being done to protect Star – originally expected this month – in a broader national review also addressing the murder of six-year-old Arthur Labingo Hughes in Solihull. This is now scheduled to be reported in May.

Ministers decided to turn Bradford’s Welfare Services into a long-term trust on Tuesday after the publication of a three-month review of the department’s management and governance by the government-appointed Bradford Commissioner, Steve Walker.

The executive summary of the report published by the Department of Education (DfE) notes that Walker did not look specifically at the shortcomings related to the Star-Hopson case, but more broadly at long-standing management and governance issues within Bradford Children’s Services.

Walker found that attempts to improve services after they were classified as inadequate by Ofsted inspectors in October 2018 have been slow and unconvincing, undermined by inexperienced management and a severe shortage of permanent social workers.

An overhaul of the department was launched in 2019 but that failed, with the plan criticized by Walker for its complexity and focus on the management process rather than the exercise of protection. It concluded that it lacked the ability to improve services quickly enough and recommended the introduction of an “alternative delivery model”.

The Minister of Education, Nadim Zahawi’s decision to create a children’s trust in Bradford is the eighth time the failing Child Social Services Department has gone down this path since 2010. In some cases, the trust has led to better services, such as in Sunderland, but it has struggled to make a difference. The effect is elsewhere, such as in Northamptonshire and Sandwell.

Zahawi said: “It is clear from the recommendations made by the Commissioner in Bradford that the Board needs support to improve and so I am pleased that the Bradford Board has agreed to create a new trust fund that will bring about positive change to the Board and the independent oversight that is driving improvements.”

However, Ray Jones, professor emeritus of social work at Kingston University, said the creation of a trust means that for two years the department’s energy will be directed to creating a new body rather than addressing protection practice issues. “The trust model is not a quick fix, and it may not be a solution at all,” he said.

The Ministry of Economic Development said an independent non-executive commissioner will be appointed to lead the board while the Children’s Fund is established. The fund will be wholly owned by the board but will operate independently under the supervision of a new board of directors.

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