BRADFORD Council will use the research into children's wellbeing developed in the city in recent years to aid a national project.

Schemes like Born In Bradford have seen huge amounts of research into the health and development of the district's children.

Now the authority has been chosen to work with What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care - a national group that aims to improve outcomes for children and young people. The centre's goal is to "foster a culture of evidence-informed practice" and Bradford Council is one of 21 authorities that it will be working with in the next few months to design and test tools the Centre might deliver in future.

Sir Alan Wood, Founding Chair of the Centre, said: “We know that to be effective, the Centre needs to remain close to the ground. These initial partnerships will help and support local leaders and practitioners to ensure that we most effectively meet the needs of children and families. They are partners who will explore, co-design and test promising ideas rapidly with us."

Born In Bradford is a huge research project that follows 13,500 children born at Bradford Royal Infirmary between March 2007 and December 2010, and their parents. It looks at the health and social issues they face from before they are born, and will follow them into adulthood.

It is one of a number of research projects currently taking place in Bradford, and last year a new research school, run by Dixons Academy, opened in the city.

Councillor Adrian Farley, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families, at Bradford Council, said: “We’re keen to develop practice in the Bradford District that is based on evidence and which builds on the work we already do within our Born in Bradford, Better Start Bradford, Opportunity Area and Education Research Centre programmes.

"All of these initiatives help us to focus our practice on using evidence to deliver what works for children and families."