Welcome to Bradford
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About Bradford
Bradford is the fifth largest metropolitan district council. The 2024 mid-year estimate for Bradford’s population is 563,600 people. Half of our people live in the city of Bradford; the rest live in the small towns and rural areas of Keighley and the Aire and Wharfe valleys in the north of our District.
We have the highest population density (1,538 people per square kilometre) in West Yorkshire and are the one of the ‘youngest’ cities in England (22.3% of our population are under the age of 16).
15.5% of the population are over the age of 65. Population analysis for Bradford predicts a rise in the over 65 population between 2025 and 2030 of around 9%.
The results of the 2021 census found that Bradford that had become more ethnically diverse. The largest proportion of the District’s population identified themselves as White (61.1%). 32.1% of people in Bradford identified their ethnic group within the "Asian, Asian British” category – this is an increase of five percentage points since the 2011 census.
Bradford District is the 13th overall most deprived in England and our population faces significant health inequalities. There is around a ten year gap in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas in the District.
We have proud close-knit communities with a high proportion of inter-generational households, family carers who choose to keep their loved ones with disabilities and their elders in the family home, and high levels of support from the local community and faith sector.
Adult Social Care in Bradford
Over 7,000 people a year access long-term social care support and just under 2,000 receive short-term services. Thousands more access early help and prevention services, and services that support social inclusion and involvement in local communities. The Office of National Statistics estimates that 85.5% people using care services in the Bradford District are state-funded (compared to an estimated 77% nationally).
Results of our 2024 equalities survey show that overall people who use our services are reflective of the general population in terms of ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. Slightly more women use commissioned services that men (60.4% of people who use services are women).
The Department is made up of five directorates.
The People Commissioning Service is responsible for ensuring that we have the right services for the people of Bradford, at the right price and the right quality.
This is managed by:
- Developing detailed understanding of our population, needs and demand analysis now and in the future.
- Working collaboratively with people who use services, their carers and families, our provider market and our partners in the NHS and other statutory services.
- A comprehensive contract management approach that is proportionate, risk-based, and robust.
You can read more about our commissioning approach and intentions for key services in the Market Overview section of this MPS.
Finding out more about Bradford
- Find out more about our population in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA).
- Find out more about who uses our commissioned services in our equalities report summary (PowerPoint, 1.7 Mb)
- Find out more about our approach to commissioning in our ASC Commissioning Strategy 2022-2027 (PDF).
- Find out more about the Council’s strategic aims in our Council Plan.