Access to Bradford’s young and diverse population was a major factor in Channel 4’s decision to re-locate to Leeds City Region, recognising the importance of diversity in creativity, innovation and commercial success. Now the broadcaster will hold its annual DIVERSE festival here on 10 June bringing together people from across the creative industries to celebrate diversity and inclusion, share their experiences and think about how to meet future challenges.

It’s the first time that the festival has been held outside of London and comes as Bradford celebrates the 10th anniversary of another milestone in its history – designation as the first UNESCO City of Film.

Meanwhile there’s still time left for our young, creative talent to apply to “Beyond Brontes”, a pioneering new programme intended to break down the barriers preventing young people from diverse backgrounds entering the screen industries. The scheme, developed by Screen Yorkshire in partnership with Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), will develop a pipeline of regional talent and is open for applications from 18-24 year olds until 3 June. Find out more here.

Bradford’s youth, diversity and talent also lay behind PwC choosing to invest in a new Assurance Centre at the heart of the city centre. PwC is one of the world’s leading professional services companies and the new centre is one of its key priorities in maintaining that world class status. The move, which has been supported by Bradford Council and WYCA, has seen 60 local people recruited to work in the Bradford office to date with the potential for this to increase to 225 on the 9,000 square foot site in Godwin Street. Find out more about job opportunities at PwC’s Bradford Office here.

The University of Bradford has won nearly £300,000 to lead a project to boost the job prospects of BAME graduates in the city. Many BAME graduates from the University remain in Bradford district, despite opportunities elsewhere, but analysis indicates that they are under-represented in highly-skilled employment in priority areas like health and social care, engineering and manufacturing, and public services. The University, supported by a range of local organisations, will lead a three-year project to develop a greater understanding of why this is the case and tackle issues with four areas of work:

• supporting businesses to access graduate talent
• improving career and job coaching for graduates and developing a talent pool to meet recruitment and skills gaps
• running events at which real and perceived barriers to accessing highly-skilled employment can be discussed, relationships developed and solutions identified
• continuing research to add to knowledge about why BAME graduates make certain choices about careers

The funding, from the Office for Students, adds to resources committed by the partners, bringing the total value of the project to over £650,000.

Over 112,000 voters turned out to vote in the district’s local elections earlier this month but at just 31% turnout was its lowest for over a decade. Labour retained control of the Council holding 52 of the 90 seats and the Conservatives form the main opposition with 22 seats. You can find the detailed results here.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe was re-appointed as Leader at the Council’s Annual General Meeting.

The University of Bradford has reaffirmed its commitment to the city by pledging to put the economy and quality of life in the local community top of its list of priorities.

Bradford joins over 50 other institutions nationally in committing to a Civic University Agreement in partnership with local government and other major institutions. The new agreement is a key recommendation in a report by the Civic University Commission set up by the UPP Foundation. The report sets out how universities like Bradford have the capability, opportunity and responsibility to support the places where they are based to solve some of their most pressing issues.

These issues range from helping local business adapt to technological change, to boosting the health of local people, improving education for school pupils and adult learners, and training and developing new civic leaders.

Professor Shirley Congdon, Vice-Chancellor Elect of the University of Bradford, said: “Successful cities have successful universities and we are determined to play our part in the future success of Bradford.”

Ambitious plans to transform Darley Street in Bradford city centre have been approved.

The plans will see a £21m investment create a new market and City Square and involve the demolition of a number of existing retail units.

The current Oastler Market will close, freeing up space for the development of a vibrant new city centre community with 1,000 new homes and new shopping and retail space.

Bradford Council continues to call for a more effective approach to funding local government to ensure that councils have enough money to meet need and demand for services.

In response to a Parliamentary inquiry that is seeking to influence the government’s policy, the Council has made the case for council tax levels, deprivation and demand for services to be taken fully into account. 

• Bradford Council has had to find £262m to balance the books since 2011. Its 2019-20 budget requires another £33.5m to be found over two years and there will still be a £28m shortfall on top of this.
• Council tax is the 7th lowest of all metropolitan districts. Band D Council tax raises just £1,090 per dwelling compared to an average of £1,327.
• Caring for and safeguarding vulnerable children and adults accounts for around half of the Council’s net expenditure. Demand for these services is growing rapidly.  
• Bradford is the 5th most income deprived part of the country and has high levels of child poverty. Government proposals mean that deprivation wouldn’t be taken into account when working out how much money councils get in their core funding.

The national approach needs to address the fact that places have different abilities to raise resources locally.

The Government must ensure that we have sufficient extra money to meet demand for children’s and adults social care.

Deprivation must be accounted for in calculating core funding.

Without additional appropriate levels of funding the Council will eventually provide only statutory services. This will mean little or no investment in services that helps to reduce demand on other parts of the public sector like the NHS and Police or in delivering the skills, jobs and economic growth the district needs.

For more information read the Council’s full submission to the inquiry.

Bradford is home to around 1,500 voluntary and community groups and 100,000 volunteers and active citizens. Their contribution will be celebrated at The People Can Festival of Volunteering in City Park on 4 June 11-3pm. The event is part of National Volunteering Week – a chance to celebrate and say thank you for the fantastic contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK.

Alongside music and entertainment, 20 organisations will be recruiting volunteers. These include Bradford Cathedral as part of its 100 for 100 volunteers appeal in its centenary year. You can help out at the Cathedral in many different ways including welcoming visitors, gardening, hospitality and much more, including at their upcoming 15 June festival day. To find out more, visit bradfordcathedral.org/about-us/get-involved; come down to City Park on 4 June or visit the Cathedral in person.