The family of murdered toddler Star Hobson said they are “over the moon” that Bradford Council had been stripped of control of its children’s services.
In the wake of Star’s horrific murder, the authority’s children’s services will now be operated by a council-owned trust led by an independent board.
The move comes after it emerged there were five missed chances of saving the 16-month old.
Great grandmother Anita, 70 and her partner David Fawcitt, 61, who cared for Star for eight months when their granddaughter could not cope, had made one of those five referrals to social services in the months before Star suffered “catastrophic” injuries in September 2020.
Star was murdered by Savannah Brockhill, 28, who was jailed last December for a minimum of 25 years.
Frankie Smith, 20, Star’s mum, was sentenced to eight years for causing or allowing her death.
Both their sentences are currently under review and could be increased.
Star’s great granny, Anita Smith, 70, from Baildon, who cared for the youngster for around three months when Frankie could not cope, told The Mirror: “I’m over-the-moon and very relieved.
“This is what I wanted. To stop this happening again. It’s happened too many times.”
While her long term partner, David Fawcett, a postman, added: “We are very angry because Star could still be with us.
"We hope this change will stop it from happening again. “
He told how they were devastated that their warnings that Star was in danger from Savannah had been dismissed.
“They went up the road to see Star (they lived quite close to us then) but when Savannah was there. Savannah plonked her on her knee and hoodwinked them all,” he said.
“Savannah took over and talked her way out of it by claiming it was because we were against their relationship and it was because she was a gypsy.
“Everyone in that house was scared of Savannah so wouldn’t speak out in front of her. She was very manipulative.
“The whole way it was handled was bad. If they had just come down and talked to us, we would have got the true story out.
“If they (the social workers) had come to see us first and we had gone up with them, the other children there would have spoken.
“I think Star would still be here today.
“It’s heartbreaking, they never got back to us when they closed the case either so we are pleased they’ve been taken over.
“It’s still a struggle, Anita struggles every day with the loss of Star, she cries every day. “
About their jailed granddaughter, Frankie, who they say suffered regular domestic abuse at Savannah’s hands, David said: “We saw the bruises on her.
“We went to see her on Saturday, she’s bearing up, there’s a possibility she could have her sentence increased so she’s stressing a little about that. “
The not-for-profit trust being set up will be owned by the council but run at “arms-length” under the control of a new independent chair and board of directors.
It was said the trust will “drive rapid improvements”.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “Keeping vulnerable children safe from harm is non-negotiable. Where a council is not meeting its duty to do this, we will take action to protect children and put their needs first.
“It’s clear from the recommendations made by the commissioner in Bradford that the council needs support to improve and so I’m pleased that Bradford Council have agreed to establish a new trust that will bring positive change for the council and independent oversight that drives improvements.”
The government said the decision followed “positive” talks with council leaders, who had “voluntarily agreed to the move” in light of the challenges it has faced since its children’s services department was rated “inadequate” by Ofsted in 2018.
