EFFORTS to improve a board that oversees services for children in Bradford have been met with seeming apathy by many of its members.

The Bradford Children's Trust Board is made up of representatives of Bradford Council, head teachers, police, school governors, children's charities, community groups and other organisations that work with children.

But when a survey was sent to members to determine how the trust could improve, only 13 out of 40 board members responded.

Among the few responses were criticisms that it did not live up to its potential, and seemed to be driven too much by Bradford Council.

Councillor Debbie Davies, the Conservative group's spokesman for education, said the results show that the board's members do not have the confidence that it can make significant changes.

MORE TOP STORIES

The survey was initiated by Councillor Ralph Berry, executive for children's services at the Labour-run authority. Recent consensus among members was that the existing make up of the group meant it was "not operating at an optimum level".

The trust commissions children's services, identifies the needs of children in the district and targets resources.

The results will go before the Council's children's services scrutiny committee on Tuesday.

A report into the survey says: "It is evident from the results that not all agencies/organisations views have been represented, given an overall response rate of 32.5 per cent. This could suggest that some partners are indifferent."

And some of the groups that did reply are described in the report as "non committal" in their feedback.

On questions that would seemingly require yes or no answers, several respondents replied "neither agree nor disagree". These included responses to statements like "A Children's Trust Board is required."

Some of the criticisms of the trust by its own members include: "It is perceived to be mainly local authority driven.

"It does not identify responsibilities or hold individuals or agencies accountable."

Despite criticisms, the majority of the responses said the trust should continue. The report agrees, but says it should do so in a more "robust" and publicly accountable form.

Cllr Berry said: "We need to check what we are doing is as effective as possible and learn from our experience. If we are going to have a children's board we have to make sure it matters."

On the poor response to the survey, he said: "A lot of the organisations that make up the trust are re-structuring, so it may be that people didn't have the time.

"Any organisation that brings these people together to make things happen is important and we have to make sure it works well."

Cllr Davies said: "It looks like a lot of the people in this group are quite indifferent to its ability to change. You wonder if the members just see this as a talking shop.

"Being part of this trust takes up a lot of time from people who would otherwise be doing rather than talking about doing."

The meeting on Tuesday takes place at Bradford City Hall from 4.30pm.