Family Solicitors

Bradford Council has launched its new Children, Young People and Families Plan for the Bradford district, setting out a “clear vision” and priorities for how agencies in the district will work with children, young people and families from 2017 to 2020.

The council says the plan includes two key imperatives for the district that will help achieve rapid improvements for children and young people and which will be open to regular scrutiny.

The first imperative is to improve school attendance – this will be monitored by measuring unauthorised absences at primary and secondary school.

The second imperative is to reduce the numbers of missing children – this will be monitored by assessing the number of looked after children who had a missing or absent incident and the number of children missing from education in Bradford.

The main priorities for the plan are ensuring that children start school ready to learn, as well as accelerating education attainment and achievement.

The plan will also ensure children and young people are ready for life and work – and safeguards the most vulnerable, providing early support to families.

The council also aims to reduce health and social inequalities, including tackling child poverty, reducing obesity and improving oral health – and aims to listen to the voice of children, young people and families, working with them to shape services and promote active citizenship.

The council said that Bradford was one of the youngest and most diverse cities in the UK, with more than 150,000 children under the age of 19.

The plan links the priorities for education and children’s health and wellbeing with the Council’s wider District Plan as well as Bradford’s Education Covenant.

It will be monitored by Bradford Children’s Trust – the trust is the leadership group which brings together all agencies across the district working with children and young people.

Bradford Council’s strategic director of children’s services, Michael Jameson, said:

“This plan is about all the agencies in Bradford working together and putting in place the plans we need to help all our young people to realise their full potential – and to put the needs of families at the heart of what we do.

“In particular, our two imperatives will help us scrutinise how well we are doing to improve school attendance – and reduce the number of children who are missing education or care.

“We believe that this will make an immediate difference to children’s lives.”

Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for education, employment and skills, Councillor Imran Khan, added:

“The future success of Bradford depends on our children and young people – and we have high aspirations for them, which is why young people were closely involved in developing this plan.

“Now we want everyone involved with children and young people in Bradford to work with us in delivering this plan – if we all work together towards this shared ambition, we believe that we can make the difference that is needed.”

Duncan Lewis Family Solicitors

Duncan Lewis Family Solicitors can advise on a wide range of family and child care matters, including: