Councillors are calling for a rapid review of new findings by the Children’s Commissioner in Calderdale.

Dame Rachel De Souza’s Childhood Lottery report ranked 149 local authorities on six different metrics, with Calderdale coming 21st overall (including eighth on Health).

Calderdale’s ranking is in stark contrast to neighbouring boroughs Bradford and Rochdale, which came 147th and 129th respectively.

Though the independent report says the rankings should not be treated as a measure of the local authority’s children’s services performance, some opposition councillors are calling for a one-off scrutiny review to look at areas where Calderdale performed most poorly.

The Children and Young People’s scrutiny panel was one of three committees which had acted as council watchdogs but were scrapped by Reform when it took over the running of Calderdale Council in May.

Council leader Daniel Sutherland branded the old model “ineffective” and a “talking shop” that would be replaced with “detailed reviews” and a “focus on action”.

The Childhood Lotter report launched on 18 October, with Calderdale performing well on public transport financial support for children and providing independent advocacy – with 10 out of 10 scores in each area.

The borough also broke into the top 10 for two areas - unauthorised absences in state-funded special schools, coming sixth with a rate of just 1.39 per cent; and low birth weights (a predictor of future health outcomes) coming 10th with 5.1 per cent.

Additionally, Calderdale did well when it came to getting accommodation for children threatened with homelessness, even after the expiry of its legal duty to help.

But there are areas where Calderdale ranked in the bottom 10 local authorities:

Spending on children with disabilities as a percent of all children and young people’s spending was 0.6 per cent in 2024/25 (the England average was 2.6 per cent), placing Calderdale 140th out of 149.
Spending on targeted and universal family support as a percent of all children and young people’s spending was 2.4 per cent in the same period (the England average was 7.6 per cent), placing the borough 139th.

Calderdale also scored in the bottom 25 for the following areas:

138th: 14 to 17-year-olds in substance misuse treatment per 1,000, 2024-25 (10.5 per cent vs 5.8 per cent England average).
132nd: Five to 16-year-olds who were missing education in 2024/25 (3.64 per cent vs 1.6 per cent England average).
130th: Looked after children who had one or more mid-year school moves in 2025 (10.9 per cent vs eight per cent England average).
125th: Number of child arrests by the police forces covering local authorities in 2024-25 per 10,000 (58 vs 47 England average).

Calderdale Council’s cabinet member for Children and Young People’s Services, Coun Tim Holden (Reform, Hipperholme and Lightcliffe), previously responded to the report by saying he was “delighted” by the top 25 placing, while adding “we know there is always more to do”.

“We are determined to build the work we do with partners, families and communities to ensure every child and young person in Calderdale has the best possible start in life,” he said.

Calderdale Green Party leader Coun Martin Hey (Northowram and Shelf) said it was good to see Calderdale scoring well across many measures, particularly on fighting homelessness, but believes more can be done to level the playing field for children and young people.

“The borough ranks low in terms of spending on Youth Services, which clearly contributes to the high percentage of children missing from school, school placement instability, school exclusions, and the significant issues with child substance misuse,” he said.

“These challenges point to long-term consequences for young people, with the figures showing a worrying percentage of young people in Calderdale are not in employment, education or training.”

While also highlighting successes in education attendance and homelessness support in the report, Calderdale Liberal Democrats leader Coun Ashley Evans (Warley) picked out challenges in children’s services funding, substance misuse, and youth justice.

“These are important areas where our young people are concerned,” he said.

"I recognise that, like many authorities, we have funding and staffing limitations, but this does not mean we should shrug our shoulders in relation to these issues.”

Coun Evans said the abolished Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee would have been the ideal vehicle for looking at the report’s findings and making recommendations.

Calling for a one-off scrutiny review of the issues, Coun Evans added: “It is the least we can do for the young people of Calderdale.”

Calderdale Council was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.