by Jo Winrow City Hall Reporter Ambitious plans have been unveiled to create a university technical college in Bradford to create the highly-skilled workers the region needs.

The University of Bradford and Bradford Council are leading the bid for the new facility in the city’s learning quarter.

It would offer up to 600 places for 14 to 19-year-olds and is a new concept in education, offering the opportunity for teenagers to take a “highly-regarded, technically-oriented course of study at a specialist college equipped to the highest standards”.

Bradford College and a leading employer from the district would also be involved.

While the University and the Council are sponsoring the bid, the funding to build a state-of-the-art centre is expected to come from the Government, and running costs would come directly to the university technical college from the agency which funds academies.

Of the 600 places, 200 would be allocated for the under 16s, a further 200 for Bradford-based post 16 students, and the final 200 for regional post-16 students.

They would be able to study engineering, advanced manufacturing and health technologies.

The Council’s Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee will discuss the matter next week, before a decision on beginning the formal bid process is taken at the executive meeting scheduled for the following week.

Councillor Ralph Berry, the Council’s executive member for children’s services and education, said: “There has been a lot of work done by all the agencies in Bradford on this.

“I really do believe that we need to do far more on what we call the technical, vocational and skills-based training for a lot of young people in Bradford. This is an attempt to connect with employers and is based around the needs of the economy.

“There is a lot of excitement about needing something like this in Bradford and providing an approach to learning that will appeal to some children for whom the A-level route is not suitable.

“I don’t think that system has been bringing the best out of these children.”

Councillor Adrian Naylor, the Conservative’s spokesman for education and chairman of the scrutiny committee, said: “The scrutiny committee will be keen to make sure that this is complimentary provision for the district that aids and enhances the skill sets of people with the district and that there is appropriate funding for the proposals – so that it isn’t being done at the expense of anything else given current budgetary constraints.”

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, the Liberal Democrat group leader said: “It’s a cracking boost for Bradford’s businesses. It’s going to bring the high-end health technologies and advanced engineering knowledge bank in Bradford right up-to-date.

“It’s a terrific opportunity for young people and for Bradford manufacturing businesses.”

The proposal follows a pledge by the Conservatives in October at their conference that they wanted to create a university technical college in Bradford or Leeds, one of a dozen planned for the biggest urban areas across England.

The scrutiny meeting is at City Hall at 5.30pm, on Thursday.