Bradford’s government-appointment commissioner Steve Walker recommended that the council lose control of its children’s services due to not improving swiftly enough after being rated “inadequate” by Ofsted in 2018.
Walker was appointed as commissioner at the council following the death of 16-month-old Star Hobson who died after suffering a cardiac arrest in Keighley, West Yorkshire, on 22 September 2020.
In his 45-page report, published by the Department for Education last week, Walker notes that when he began writing his report there were 124 social worker vacancies filled by 173 agency staff.
This, combined with a 38 per cent increase in caseload since 2018, had affected the stability of the workforce, he said.
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