BRADFORD will get a share of £72 million of government cash earmarked for improving opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The district is one of six Opportunity Areas across the country that will be given extra support to help youngsters achieve their potential.

Funding will be aimed at helping young people from nursery through to starting their first job.

The social mobility cash injection was announced yesterday by Education Secretary Justine Greening.

The Government said a key aim of the programme was to build young people’s knowledge and skills and provide them with the best advice and opportunities.

Bradford Council leader Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe said: “I’m delighted to see the announcement. We made a strong case to Government for more investment in teaching and learning in Bradford. I went to see the education minister personally last month to talk about Bradford and how important it is to support our children to achieve here. Our MPs have also been active on this issue for Bradford. Education is a top priority for all of us.

“We are the youngest city in the UK with nearly 25 per cent of our population under the age of 16. Situated right in the heart of the north of England, it’s vital for Bradford’s young people to be successful if the north is to be successful.”

Ms Greening said: “As the Prime Minister has set out, we are facing a moment of great change as a nation. With our departure from the European Union, we will need to define an ambitious new role for ourselves in the world.

“For Britain to succeed we must be a country where everyone has a fair chance to go as far as their talent and their hard work will allow. Education is at the heart of that ambition, and is central to breaking down the barriers to social mobility that too many face in our country today. I want to see more disadvantaged young people attending the very best universities, winning places on apprenticeships, entering the top professions, and progressing through the most rewarding careers - and I want employers to do more to draw out the potential and talents of all.”

Cllr Imran Khan, the Council’s Executive member for Education, Employment and Skills, said: “It is excellent news that the Bradford district has been named as an Opportunity Area and is set to benefit from this funding package.

“Bradford certainly is an area of opportunity in every sense and I’m glad on this occasion that the Government has recognised this with this investment. We look forward to getting more details and will work with the schools and the Regional Schools Commissioner to make sure the best use is made of this funding.”

Bradford South MP Judith Cummins said: "After many, many months of pressure, from MPs and Bradford Council, Government has finally agreed to release extra and much-needed funding for the district’s schools.

"This is very welcome as each and every child in Bradford deserves just as good an education, and just as many opportunities, as children elsewhere in the country.”

She added a word of caution, saying: "Although extra funding is always welcome, I continue to be very concerned about the longer term finances of Bradford's schools.

"Analysis of our district’s school funding has revealed that by 2019, our schools will have lost £38 million, equivalent to £489 per pupil. Even with this extra funding, our schools will have less money under this Government.

"The black hole in their finances is in part due to changes to the national school funding formula, which is expected to be introduced by Government in the near future."

Doncaster, Fenland & East Cambridgeshire, Hastings, Ipswich, and Stoke are the other areas.

Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, is currently doing work and research in Bradford as part of Growing Up North, a year-long project which aims to identify the factors shaping children’s lives in communities all across the North of England. 

She said: “It is good to see the Government take a local-area based approach to improving children’s outcomes.

“Children’s prospects are shaped enormously by where they grow up and it’s our duty is to ensure that all children have the best possible opportunities to look forward to happy, healthy and prosperous lives, an area I am investigating with my Growing Up North Project.”

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