NEARLY two thirds of Children's Centres in the Bradford district to have been inspected in the last 18 months have been branded as not being good enough.

Out of 11 inspections by Ofsted since Spring 2013, seven have been classed as either inadequate or requiring improvement. One of the centres to be most recently inspected, Princeville Children's Centre off Legrams Lane, was branded "inadequate" in a highly critical report, which said the centre did not match the needs of local families.

Woodside Children's Centre was also judged inadequate after an inspection in September last year.

A new inspection framework for Children's Centres was introduced by the inspection body in March 2013.

Since then, 11 of Bradford's centres have been inspected. Four have been called "good" - Midland Road, Lidget Green, Victoria Hall in Queensbury and most recently Hirst Wood. However, in addition to the Princeville centre's rating, which was the lowest that Ofsted gives, a further five were said to "require improvement." They were the centres at Canterbury, Reevy Hill, Wyke, Low Fold in Keighley and Frizinghall.

The way children's centres are run is set to change in the coming months as part of council plans to cut £2.4 million from their budget. Individual management groups for each centre will be replaced by seven management teams, each responsible for a "cluster" of centres. Nine of the 41 centres will no longer be classed as children's centres, instead becoming "delivery sites" for family services.

The Conservative spokesman for education on Bradford Council said it would be a shame if failing centres remained open while "good" centres are downgraded. One of the children's centres likely to become a delivery site is the one at Victoria Hall in Queensbury - which was rated good in a January inspection.

Under the previous framework the majority of centres were rated good, and several have yet to be inspected by Ofsted.

The just released report into Princeville Children's Centre says leadership, governance and management had not been held accountable for the centre's poor performance. It added: "The range of services has reduced over time. The current activity programme is far too limited and not matched to the needs of families.

"Activities to tackle health concerns such as obesity, infant mortality and dental health remain underdeveloped. Safeguarding arrangements are not fully embedded. This puts vulnerable families at further risk."

Councillor Debbie Davies, Conservative spokesman for education, said: "When the council makes the decision of which children's centres to downgrade, maybe the Ofsted rating should be taken into account.

"It would be a shame if good and outstanding centres were downgraded and those that require improvement or are inadequate get to stay open. It wouldn't be rewarding success."

On the new inspections, Michael Jameson, Strategic Director of Children’s Services, said: “Inspections are positive in that they bring challenge and accountability. It is important that centres across the district work effectively to deliver the services that young children and families need. We believe the new proposed model for managing children’s centres will help us in sharing best practice that is evidence based and which we know will be of benefit.”

Referring to the Princeville rating, he added: "I want to reassure families that we are urgently addressing the recommendations in this report. It’s important that the centre can make the improvement that is required at a rapid rate so it can deliver the services that local families need.”

Tie in

New figures released by Ofsted show that the majority of childminders inspected in July and August were good or better.

Inspectors regularly visit childminders and day care centres, and figures just released for the two months show that of the 28 inspected in Bradford, two were dubbed outstanding and 16 "good." However, six were found to be inadequate, over a fifth.

Ofsted rarely reveal the details of the childminders with their inspection reports.