EXCLUSIVE: More than 12,000 referrals made to Bradford Children's Services against 2,002 children
Each of those children had been referred to the authority five or more times
Last updated 26th Jan 2022
As Bradford Council's stripped of its children services we can exclusively reveal the true extent of repeat referrals being made.
Our investigation shows in the last 12 years, over 12 thousand referrals have been made to Bradford children's services against 2,000 children, who had been reported 5 times or more.
The family and friends of murdered Keighley toddler Star Hobson contacted the authority five times but no action was taken.
Star Hobson was murdered by her mother, Frankie Smith’s partner, Savannah Brockhill, on 22 September 2020.
In December, Frankie Smith was convicted of causing or allowing the death of her 16-month-old daughter and sentenced to 8 years in prison.
Brockhill was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years in jail.
Robbie Moore, the MP for Keighley is now calling for bosses at the council to step down:
"I think it is absolutely right that those in a position of leadership and responsibility are properly held to account and I do not have any confidence whatsoever in the current chief executive or the leader of Bradford council.
"Leadership matters, strategy matters, setting the right culture, ensuring there's no dysfunctionality between child service departments and the core management matters and that's where failings have been identified.
"I think based on this weeks events, I think its only right that we have new leaders in position of those responsibilities so we have proper measures put in place so children across Bradford are properly protected."
A Bradford Council spokesperson said:
“We understand that many people are angry about what has happened. Our priority is to put children first as we work with the government to continue to improve services for young people across our district. To do this we need to ensure stability within our workforce and leadership as we focus on putting these new arrangements in place.”