AROUND 1,500 council staff will transfer to the new trust taking over Children’s Services next year.

And finance bosses have raised concerns the trust may want to be based in a “shiny, new” building at a high cost to taxpayers.

In January, Government announced that Children’s Services would be taken away from Bradford Council control after years of poor performance.

The service would instead be run by a new arm’s length trust from April.

At a recent meeting of Bradford Council’s Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee, members were given more information about the trust and how it will operate.

At the start of the meeting, members were told that Marium Haque, Interim Director of Children’s Services, and Joanne Hyde, Strategic Director for Corporate Resources, would not be able to attend the meeting as they had recently tested positive for Covid.

It was left to Chris Chapman, Director of Finance, to give the presentation.

Chair of the meeting Councillor Geoff Winnard (Cons, Bingley) said: “This meeting isn’t about whether we think the trust is a good idea. This is about the risks and consequences of the establishment of this trust.”

Mr Chapman said the Trust would decide its own budget, which would then be funded by Bradford Council.

When asked the number of staff that would be transferring over, Mr Chapman said: “There are around 1,500 people in the organisation that will transfer over from Children’s Services.

“There will also be IT and finance staff moving over.

“The expectation is the Trust will need a building or a large part of a building to be based in.

“They will want their own brand and to build their identity.

“Ideally, they will use one of our existing buildings – we don’t really want the trust to go and buy its own property and leave the council with the cost.

“This will all be subject to negotiations. They will want something new and shiny, but ideally we would want them to use an existing Council facility.”

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) said the changes to Children’s Services would be the biggest issue Bradford would be dealing with in the near future.

She suggested the trust could boost numbers of people wanting to work in children’s services. She said: “People might feel better not working for a Council that has constantly been pilloried. Working for a different organisation, even if it is just another brand, they might feel better.”