BRADFORD’S Schools Forum has cut the amount of money it provides to services for young families.

Each year the forum contributes £882,108 to early childhood services such as play provision, parental support and the families information service.

These services are likely to see about 25 per cent of the cash received from Bradford Council cut in the coming year, and yesterday the schools forum also agreed to cut its contribution by the same percentage, amounting to £220,000.

The forum said the services needed to give more proof they were value for money.

Forum member Diane Rowbotham said: “I don’t particularly feel comfortable voting to cut funding for something like this, but it is a lot of money.”

The forum’s chairman Paul Burluraux said: “As a forum we will make decisions we aren’t comfortable with, but we have to think about budgets.”