An Ofsted report has judged Bradford Council’s Children’s Services department as “inadequate”.
The inspection body claimed in the report that the service has "rapidly deteriorated" in the past 18 months and that services for children in need of protection leave children "at risk of serious harm."
Ofsted notes the main reason for the drop in quality to be an increase in demand for services, at the same time that a "significant" number of social workers and managers have left Bradford to work for other councils.
Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council, said: "We are extremely disappointed that at our recent Ofsted inspection the services we deliver to protect the most vulnerable were found not to be meeting the high standards our children deserve.
"We are very sorry this has happened and we will act quickly and address it.
"We have increased spending in children's services by six per cent this year but we are going to have to spend more on Children's Services and we will deliver rapid improvements."