Bradford: How civic leaders failed to mend the image of a broken city

A city which has been “unfairly stereotyped” as divided and segregated desperately needs assertive leaders to help rebuild confidence and tackle poverty, a report has concluded.

Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that Bradfordians were highly critical of the city’s leaders who they blamed for not doing enough to tackle the image of a “broken city”.

Local leadership came under criticism for the stalled regeneration of the city centre which had a “significant impact upon perceptions of Bradford”.

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Report author Nick Johnson concluded that the national image of Bradford as divided and segregated was seen by Bradfordians as untrue, unhelpful and a barrier to investment.

He concluded that the underlying issues are material – poverty and deprivation, inequality, lack of jobs and the absence of good and affordable housing – rather than Bradford’s ethnic or religious make-up.

The focus on Muslim communities since the 2001 riots had distracted from the real issues around poverty and inequality.

He added: “However, what is also apparent is that many people felt that tensions have been rising on the ground as a result of growing competition for resources, compounded by the recent recession and anticipated effects of public spending reductions.”

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On leadership, he said: “To take advantage of the potential for recovery, Bradford needs a confident leadership which promotes the strengths of the city... challenging what are widely felt to be out-of-date and unhelpful perceptions.”

Confident and assertive leaders need to set out a “bold and positive vision”, poverty needs to be tackled and the local authority should seek greater powers to borrow and invest.

Mr Johnson said: “The enduring poverty of Bradford needs to be tackled. Informed and progressive decisions about where restricted resources should be targeted need to be made. This means having rigorous assessments of the impact on equality and deprivation of public spending reductions, and using these to guide decisions.

The report is a summary of four reports about Bradford which are published today by the Joseph Rowntree Trust,

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JRF Bradford programme director Bana Gora said: “Bradford needs new strategies to bring work and economic growth to the city, especially for young people. We need to see confident, assertive local leadership which sets out a bold and positive vision for Bradford and the people who live here.”

Politicians blamed one another for the ongoing problems.

Labour councillor Ian Greenwood, leader of Bradford Council, said: “The reports highlight the legacy of ten years of Conservative leadership of the council.

“Since taking leadership of the council in May 2010 I believe that things are moving in the right direction but to succeed we have to have self belief.

“People have a right to feel frustrated, as we all do at the lack of progress on the Westfield (proposed shopping centre) site and the city centre, and it is no surprise that people are worried about the negative impact of the biggest public sector cuts ever seen hard on the heels of a damaging recession.”

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He said the city was turning the corner. Developer Westfield was resubmitting plans for a major shopping centre and the council was investing in the city centre, in employment and skills.

“We’re taking action on poverty including a child poverty strategy dealing with a range of issues like education, housing and parenting and we have done everything that we can to protect the most vulnerable and poorest from the effects of Government cuts.

“It is encouraging to see research showing that both the business community and voluntary sectors are showing increasing confidence in the council because different sectors pulling together in the same direction will be vital to leading the district forward.”

The leader of the Tory group on Bradford Council, Glen Miller, pointed out that Labour had been in charge of Bradford for 13 years before the previous Tory-led administration.