Children and parents are to have a say in how to spend £646,000 on improving the district's child care facilities.

Bradford Council has launched a sweeping survey designed to discover whether families want things such as out-of-school clubs and day nurseries and whether they will use them.

Councillor Ralph Berry, Executive Member for Rebuilding Communities, said it was vital people had their say.

"It is very important. We want to hear what everyone has to say. This sort of thing helps us provide what people actually want and meets training and development needs as well."

Coun Berry said he hoped trying to bring users of the service on board at an early stage would generate a real partnership between the Council, parents and children.

And, he said, because parents had been in on the decision-making, they would be more confident in the service that was eventually provided.

Bradford Council has been given £646,000 by the Government as part of a nationwide £8 billion investment on care for youngsters up to the age of 14.

Locally, a postal survey has been sent out to 4,000 parents in Buttershaw, Wyke, Bradford Moor, Undercliffe, Keighley, Eccleshill, Baildon and Bolton. Researchers will also be visiting community centres and post offices in those areas between January 5 and 13 to do more interviews. Questionnaires have also been set up on the council's web site and schools have been encouraged to get their pupils to respond.

Any children who do complete the survey before Tuesday, December 21 will be automatically entered into a free prize draw. Prizes include a £100 computer software voucher for the school with the most entries or individuals can enter and win vouchers for toys, computers and sports clothes or tickets for the Bradford Bulls. Anybody with an interest is being invited to take part in the survey.

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