Bradford District is fast building a reputation as the go-to place for national decision makers to find out more about how they can work with northern cities to address their challenges and make the most of their assets. This month we’ve once again been making the case to visitors from Government for the investment that the district needs in order thrive. But we’ve also presented the case for why, with our youth, diversity and traditions of industry, enterprise and innovation, this is the right place to invest in trail-blazing approaches to getting the best outcomes for places and people. Colleagues from across the north have gathered here too to argue for more control over rail services and investment decisions – critical issues for Bradford if we are to unlock its full productive potential. Culture is also vitally important to our prosperity and wellbeing. With progress on Bradford Live, our award winning literature festival in its sixth year and the announcement of a new creative production hub we are reaping the rewards of hard miles, outstanding partnerships and the district’s wealth of creativity and talent. We want more people to come to Bradford District, to talk with us, work with us, invest with us and take time out with us. So our message to everyone backing Bradford District is to spread the word wherever you go and whoever you speak with to come and see for themselves how much we have to offer.

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader, Bradford Council

Kersten England, Chief Executive, Bradford Council

Bradford hosted a delegation from HM Treasury and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government who wanted to find out more about the challenges facing local authorities ahead of the next Government Spending Review, build relationships and understand the opportunities the district offers as a test bed for innovation and policy reform. A round-table discussion at City Hall was followed by a tour of the city centre’s key regeneration sites and successes before lunch prepared by young people at Bradford College. In the afternoon Carlton Bolling College showcased the district’s outstanding and innovative partnership work on Industrial Centres of Excellence that is equipping young people with the skills that our businesses need to thrive.   

Issues under discussion included:

• The need to resolve social care funding issues and the risk to other services that promote the wellbeing of communities and individuals if this is not achieved.
• The case for investment in early help and prevention services that stop problems from occurring or getting worse and reduce pressure on areas like the NHS and social care.
• Bradford’s unique data, analytics and evaluation offer exemplified by Born in Bradford
• Bradford as a potential test bed for new approaches to public services based on all services working together in an integrated way across local areas.
• Bradford’s strong track record on skills.
• Our long standing track record of best practice on community engagement and cohesion.
• The opportunities offered by our strong and experienced Voluntary and Community Sector including networks of outstanding community anchors.
• The social and physical investments needed to unlock fully our productive potential as the youngest city.

We will keep working to build effective relationships with Government in order to influence national thinking, pilot new approaches and secure investment and reform.

Senior politicians from across the North arrived in Bradford to discuss shared ambitions for the future of rail services in the North of England as Transport for the North (TfN) held its Board meeting in City Hall. The board heard updates on the Williams Review and Blake Jones Review, both of which will influence the delivery of rail services in the north. The Williams Review was described as a once in a generation opportunity to address the fundamental issues that affect our railways. In its response to the review, TfN is making the case for decision making and accountability for rail to be devolved to regional transport bodies and, where appropriate, to local authorities and city regions. Centralised national decision making  has led to a lack of accountability and local control which in turn has led to under-investment with the odds stacked against areas without established services and high productivity.

Investment in rail infrastructure is critical to unlocking Bradford’s full economic potential. A high speed rail stop in the city centre would add up to £15bn to the economy of the north by 2060 and create thousands of new jobs helping to re-balance the national economy, which is why we keep on backing the case for Next Stop Bradford.

Findings and recommendations of the Williams Review are expected to be published in a Government White Paper in autumn 2019. Reform is expected to begin in 2020.

Bradford has secured £1.5m from the Arts Council to deliver “The Producing Hub”, a  three-year project testing new approaches to producing work, supporting talent, developing a local arts workforce, and working with communities across Bradford to build their capacity to produce work and reimagine the city as a thriving centre for performance. The project will embrace and champion diversity and develop a comprehensive approach to retaining creative talent here in Bradford and enabling artists to create their best work today. The award is a result of more great partnership work with the successful bid developed by a university led consortium of publicly-funded and independent arts organisations passionate about growing culture, creativity and diversity in the heart of the city. This consortium includes Theatre in the Mill, Mind the Gap, Kala Sangam, 154 Collective, Common Wealth and Displace Yourself. The Producing Hub will operate from early September 2019. If you would like to get in touch with the consortium before then, please contact Rich Warburton at the University of Bradford r.warburton@bradford.ac.uk

The latest set of population estimates have been published by the Office for National Statistics and show that Bradford District’s estimated population increased between June 2017 and June 2018 by 2,400 (0.4%).

• The district’s population is now 537,200.
• Bradford is the 5^th largest local authority in England after Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.
• 8% of the population is under 16, making Bradford the youngest city authority in the UK.
• 29% of people are under the age of 20.

You can find out more here.

Keeping children and adults safe is everyone’s business and Safeguarding Week has seen a range of events across the district designed to share best practice. 

We all need to be vigilant - NHS figures show concerns of adult abuse rising nationally. For an adult  believed to be experiencing abuse or neglect a safeguarding enquiry must commence – over 150,000 began nationally in 2017-18, with nearly two thirds of the enquiries concluding that year resulting in action. Older people are at higher risk with one in 43 aged 85+ being subject to an enquiry compared to one in 862 aged 18-64. Neglect accounts for a third of safeguarding risks with the most common location (43%) in the person’s own home.

NSPCC research found that 53,790 children and young people in England were the subject of a child protection plan in March 2019. Reported cruelty and neglect offences are increasing, as are the numbers of sexual offences against children, probably reflecting higher levels of reporting. Increases are also occurring in the numbers and rates of online child sexual offences

In 2018 in Bradford we saw Child Sexual Exploitation offences reduce by almost 10%. At the same time the numbers of people reporting concerns increased. We believe this is because we are raising awareness and more people have the confidence to speak out about CSE. Local partners have secured £1m for intensive support to vulnerable young people. This helps us raise awareness about the relationships they have and provide support to those who need it. 

Meanwhile, Bradford’s award winning “Real Safeguarding Stories” uses video to help people learn about the issues, recognise the signs of abuse, and think about prevention. If you are concerned about someone’s safety, go to the Report It section of the Council’s website or contact the police on 101.

The University of Bradford is taking part in a new project to improve support for young people who have experienced care to go into higher education.

With only 12% of care leavers under the age of 23 going into higher education – and those that do being almost twice as likely to drop out than their peers – the National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL) and the UPP Foundation have announced a new partnership to improve the support provided for young care experienced people.

Under the new scheme universities and colleges will take positive action to tackle the sector-wide care leavers crisis by creating a framework ensuring young care experienced people get the personal and financial support they need.

Nikki Pierce, Academic Registrar at the University of Bradford, said: "As an institution dedicated to widening access and participation to higher education, we are delighted to take part in this project.

"Participating in this pilot will give us the opportunity to improve our support for care leavers and care experienced people and to benchmark what we are doing against best practice. Ensuring that everyone – no matter their background – is supported to access and succeed in higher education is at the heart of our University ethos.

"With only 12% of care leavers progressing to HE, this is an area in which the whole sector needs to do better, and we are delighted to be helping to shape a quality mark in this area."

The achievements of the district’s historically important women are to be commemorated by having streets named after them. The street naming is part of the Pioneering Lasses campaign which aims to improve the gender balance when it comes to publically honouring historical figures. A list of names has been drawn up and is checked against future housing developments to ensure that pioneering women can be considered for street naming in the areas where they made their contributions.

First up is Lilian Armitage (pictured) who will have a street named for her in Manningham. Lilian was a local suffragette who campaigned actively for women’s rights to vote and was even briefly imprisoned during her fight to help secure women’s suffrage. She was part of the cohort who attempted to enter the House of Commons and as a result was arrested on 14 February 1907. At her trial she was found guilty and ordered to serve 14 days in prison. Her name is on the Role of Honour of Suffragette Prisoners.

A permanent exhibition has also been created in Bradford City Hall to celebrate the important women from our district’s past. The exhibition includes 14 framed photographs of women from Bradford’s past, including the Lister’s Mill Strike Committee and Florence White, who campaigned for single women to get decent pensions.

Upcoming events at Bradford Cathedral include: Giving People the best start in life: Professor Neil Small to deliver interactive ‘Healthy City’ talk – Monday, 8 July, 7pm

The next talk in the ‘Flourishing City’ series of events at Bradford Cathedral will focus on the subject of ‘Healthy City’. Presented by Professor Neil Small, Professor of Health Research at the Faculty of Health Studies at the University of Bradford, it will look at the impact of austerity, diet and the environment on those living and growing up in the city and will consider how we can work together to improve health.  Read more about it and reserve a free ticket at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/flourishing-city-healthy-city-tickets-60818371386

A Conversation Between Faiths – Monday, 15 July, 7pm

A Faiths Conversation with Qari Asim MBE, Head Imam at Makkah Mosque, Leeds; Bishop of Bradford the Rt. Revd. Toby Howarth; and Professor Michael Barnes SJ, recent recipient of the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation from the Archbishop of Canterbury for his long and distinguished contribution in this field.

Reserve your free place at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-conversation-between-faiths-tickets-60818504785