Children in care in Bradford have more chance of leading a normal life than those in other parts of the country, figures published today reveal.

A report by the Audit Commission shows more children taken into care in the city were placed in foster homes than in almost any other metropolitan council in the country.

According to the commission's figures for 1996/97, 74 per cent were fostered compared with an average of 62 per cent. Kirklees was the lowest, at 42 per cent.

Social services committee chairman Coun Mike Young said 700 youngsters were now in care with families like Oakenshaw couple Bill and Elsie Smith, who have fostered more than a dozen.

"It's the department's philosophy that wherever possible we foster children, as they are better placed with families than in residential care," he said.

The figures also show Bradford had the highest number of children in care who were moved three times or more in a year. Coun Young said this figure was "too high" and he wanted it to come down.

David Marsh, Yorkshire assistant director of children's charity Barnardos, described the high number of children in foster homes as "excellent news". He said the high number of moves might indicate the Council's commitment to foster families rather than institutionalised care.

The report showed Bradford provided more respite breaks for disabled people and their carers than any other metropolitan council.

It also revealed Bradford was the sixth highest spending metropolitan district in the country.

The authority spends £874 more per person on its services - £53 more than the average.

Council leader John Ryan said: "I think it rightly reflects the needs of the Bradford metropolitan district and the controlling group's priorities.

"On the whole they are respectable results for us and they show the Council is improving efficiency and the services it provides."

The council collected 92.8 per cent of the total Council Tax due, which was two per cent below average, and put the district in the bottom six.

And 5.9 per cent of tenants owed more than three months' rent - one per cent above average. A council spokesman said the rent arrears for the previous year were 6.1 per cent and he added: "This is a significant reduction and there are various steps being taken to reduce it further.

"From April this year the collection period will be reduced from 52 to 48 weeks because Christmas and sometimes Easter are the periods when most people tend to default.

"Council Tax collection is a difficult problem in areas with high levels of deprivation.

"The figure was slightly better and we are constantly looking for ways to tackle the problem."

The report found West Yorkshire fire fighters were the second best in the country when it came to getting to the correct number of appliances to the scene within the nationally laid down times.

They met the level on about 97 per cent of occasions compared with the average of 93%.

The cost of the West Yorkshire service was below average at about £26 per head of population. North Yorkshire was the lowest, at about £21.50.

Technical problems prevented social services staff from submitting information on the number of clients who had been given a statement of needs but a spokesman said it was being prepared for the next report.

Coun Jeanette Sunderland, leader of the Liberal Democrats on the Council, said: "The Labour group will no doubt spin the line that all's well because some of the performance indicators show a small improvement on last year.

"But we are still a long way behind our neighbours when it comes to education, housing repairs, Council Tax collection and efficiency."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.