A UNION which represents foster carers said it wants to be "closely involved" with the new trust which will run Bradford's Children's Services.

The announcement of the trust, which will be owned by the Council, but operated at arms-length by a new independent Chair and Board of Directors, was made on Tuesday. 

The department was judged as 'inadequate' by Ofsted in 2018, and further inspections have found the pace of improvement has been painfully slow.

Bradford Council agreed to the trust model, which has recently seen Sunderland’s Children’s Services move from 'inadequate' to 'outstanding'.

The National Union Of Professional Foster Carers, which supports foster carers if they have problems during placements and mediates between carers and local authority social services, said: "To be proactive we would now like to be closely involved with the trust who are taking over the running of Bradford Council Children's Services, to help them incorporate the changes we are currently discussing with central Government in an attempt to ensure that past failures do not become future problems."

It is the second time the Council has lost full control of its Children’s Services. In 2001, private firm Serco was brought in after a critical Ofsted report.