A report to Bradford Council’s executive has confirmed that a new children’s trust will ‘go live’ next year as part of the response to the murder of toddler Star Hobson.
Plans to establish the Bradford Children's Company, which will run children's services in the city, were put in place following a report in January by commissioner Steve Walker that highlighted local failures in the case of Star Hobson.
The 16-month-old was killed by her mother’s partner in 2020 following months of physical and psychological abuse.
The council and the Department for Education announced last month that Eileen Milner has been appointed as the chair of the new trust. Today’s executive report enables the recruitment of a new chief executive.
Cllr Sue Duffy, portfolio holder for children and families, said: ‘We welcome this report showing the progress that is being made to establish the new Trust. Working with our staff to develop the Trust, recruiting Eileen as Chair and now recruiting for a new Chief Executive for the Trust are all really positive steps forward.'
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said: ‘This report shows that we’re making good progress at pace with setting up the Children’s Trust. We’ve been working closely with the Department for Education so that we use all the talents, skills and knowledge that we have both nationally and locally to make the improvements we need to see for the children of our district.’
