Prime minister David Cameron announced on Wednesday that the government was making available £450 million in a cross-government drive to turn around the lives of 120,000 of some of the country’s most troubled families by the end of this Parliament.
Former head of the Respect Task Force Louise Casey will head a new Troubled Families Team based within the Department for Communities and Local Government to drive forward a non-governmental approach to provide expert help to local areas.
The government funding will be offered to local authorities on a payment-by-results basis when they and their partners achieve success with families, and will fund 40 per cent of the cost of the intervention, which the remaining 60 per cent coming from the councils’ own budgets.
The Government will also fund a national network of troubled family ‘trouble-shooters’ in each (upper-tier) local council. The trouble-shooters will operate at a senior level to oversee the programme of action in their area.
A troubled family is defined as one meeting at least five of seven characteristics. The government estimates that most troubled 120,000 families cost central and local government £9 billion a year – an average of £75,000 per family. Currently, only £1 billion of the £9 billion is spent on targeted interventions which could help turn the troubled families’ lives around.