A SENIOR councillor has accused schools inspectorate Ofsted of coming "closer and closer to singling out and demonising" Muslims in a crackdown on illegal schools.

Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw visited Bradford earlier this month to grill council bosses about what they were doing to check home-schooled children were not being taught and potentially radicalised in illegal schools.

Sir Michael began a national campaign to root out unregistered private schools providing full-time education after inspectors found evidence of three establishments in Birmingham teaching a "narrow, Islam focused curriculum" and in one case, operating in filthy conditions.

But Councillor Simon Cooke, leader of the council's opposition Conservative group, said Ofsted was "running closer and closer to singling out and demonising religious minorities" in a speech which drew applause from across the council chamber.

Speaking during a meeting of the full council tonight, Cllr Cooke said it was right and proper that social workers checked home schooling arrangements to make sure children were being well cared for and educated properly.

And he said given the recent events in Brussels, he was also mindful of the danger of radicalisation.

But he said: "I do not think home schooling is what causes people to put bombs onto themselves and walk into an airport, and I do not think we should allow Ofsted to get away with this subtext about radicalisation."

Council leader David Green said the authority went "above and beyond" the welfare checks it was required to do on home-schooled children.

But he said there were limits to the checks its social workers could make, saying parents could legally refuse to let them into their homes.

Of the 333 home educated children in the district, 94 per cent have been visited by council staff, but access to the remaining six per cent has been refused.

Cllr Green said he wanted the council to lobby the Government to review this policy.

The debate was prompted by a motion put forward by the Liberal Democrat group.

Its leader, Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, said she had wanted to find out whether illegal schools were an issue in Bradford and to investigate claims that the Labour administration were complacent about the issue.

On whether the district had a problem with illegal schools, she said: "It doesn't look like we have and it does look like an agenda being driven centrally."

An amended motion, put forward by the Labour group, was voted through unanimously.

This called on chief executive Kersten England to write to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan calling for national policy to be reviewed so local authorities and partner agencies get more support when trying to check on home-schooled children.