Scores of Bradford's vulnerable children are placed in care miles from home

One in every 11 youngsters – 75 in total – have been put in residential homes or foster care more than the recommended distance from where they grew up, a watchdog states.

And there could be many more, because Bradford Council told the Government it did not know the circumstances of a further 75 children in its care.

Now, the National Audit Office (NAO) has raised the alarm over whether ministers are failing in their promises to “improve placement stability”, partly by getting children closer to home.

Councillor Ralph Berry, Bradford’s executive member for children's services, said he was “passionately committed” to avoiding placements far away.

But he said: “It’s not that simple, when we are dealing with cases of sexual exploitation and grooming when the child can’t be placed near the perpetrator – they can’t live in the same community.

“We also have children with complex needs who may have to be placed further away although, just because a child is away from Bradford, doesn’t mean they are away from all their family.”

Cllr Berry said the Council was increasing the number of places, including the opening of a special needs unit in Lister Lane, and that the number placed out of the district was “stable”.

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, a member of the Council’s health and social care overview and scrutiny committee, said she was extremely concerned by the situation.

“Clearly, children who are in public care are extremely vulnerable," said Cllr Sunderland, the Council's Liberal Democrats leader.

“Given the experiences of young children in the care of Rotherham Council, then it is exceedingly worrying to find that we apparently do not have complete control over the safety of children in our care.”

She added: “I am increasingly concerned at the Council’s failure to come forward with a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Bradford.”

In its report, the NAO has pointed out that 43 per cent of all children’s homes are in the North West or West Midlands, with relatively few in Yorkshire.

But the majority of children in care in Bradford are being fostered (600) rather than living in homes (95), the figures show.

The figures are revealed as part of an NAO report that warns children in care do less well in school than their peers and are more likely to experience problems in later life.

Only 15 per cent achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including maths and English, in 2012-13, compared with 58 per cent of children not in care.

And it comes as the number of children in care has risen to its highest level for nearly 25 years following the death of Baby P and a spate of child sex exploitation scandals, according to the NAO's report.

Some 68,110 children were being looked after by local authorities in England at the end of March 2013 - a 14 per cent increase since 2008.

The "rapid rise" in children in care followed coverage of 'Baby P' Peter Connelly's death in 2007, while almost every local authority said they were expecting or experiencing an increase in referrals linked to child sexual exploitation after high-profile cases in Rotherham and other towns, the NAO said.

Margaret Hodge, chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, which shadows the NAO, said ministers were unable to point to improvements.

She added: “It is disappointing that the Department for Education cannot show that it has met its objectives to improve the quality of care and the stability of placements for children.”

But Edward Timpson, the children’s minister, attacked the report as “fundamentally flawed”, insisting that, since 2010, children in care were doing better at school, with absences down.

"It is a fact that since 2010, children in care are doing better at school and absences from school have decreased. Foster children can also now stay at home until the age of 21, and this year a record number of children found places in stable, loving homes through adoption," he said.

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