HUNDREDS of children in care have been placed more than 20 miles away from home in Bradford, according to new figures. 

Latest statistics from the Department for Education show 1,483 children were in care in Bradford as of March.

Of those, 284 were placed more than 20 miles from home.

A year earlier, 266 of 1,584 children in care were away from home.

Across England and Wales, more than 83,000 children were in care as of March, with 18,040 placed at least 20 miles away from their home.

Katharine Sacks-Jones, chief executive of Become - a charity for children and young people in care - said this was "simply not good enough".

She urged the Government to take "decisive action" to stop these numbers getting worse.

Charlotte Ramsden, chief executive of Bradford Children and Families Trust, said: "The best outcome for children is always our priority and firstly we are working to reduce the need for children to come into care by supporting them to be safe at home. 

"This has already successfully reduced the number of children in care, combined with a tight focus on permanence planning and enabling children to leave care in accordance with that plan. 

"Where children need to be in care, our aim is always to try and place children where they have the best opportunities to thrive, with a focus on extended family, local foster care and local placements first. 

"These figures show that placement at a distance is a national issue and, while the number in Bradford is below the England average, the actual numbers are higher that we would want. 

"Many of these children are positively placed in long-term family arrangements or in specialist placements linked to very complex needs. 

"However, we want to reduce further the numbers placed outside Bradford where their long-term future means they should be back in Bradford, and we are working on our internal capacity to bring children back where that is right for them. 
 
"We want to do more, and welcome the recent announcements from Government committing to increase capital financial support for development of new placements so that we can we can continue to develop placements within our community.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "For too long, the children's social care system has been left to fester, but we are now determined to deliver meaningful reform once and for all to deliver better life chances for some of the most vulnerable children in our country."