WIREDGOV

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has welcomed the news that every eligible council has agreed to run the Government's Troubled Families programme in their area.

The overwhelmingly positive response from upper-tier local authorities in England means that the Department for Communities and Local Government is on track to meet the Prime Minister's pledge to turn around the lives of 120,000 troubled families in the next three years.

Councils have welcomed the payment by results model launched in March 2012 to get children off the streets and back into school; reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour; and put adults on a path back to work.

Mr Pickles said:

"It is great news that every upper-tier authority has agreed to run this programme in their area. The fast and unanimous level of take-up shows that the Government has got the confidence of local councils that together we can tackle a problem that councils have long grappled with. We cannot go on spending so much taxpayers' money on such a small amount of families without turning their lives around once and for all. This programme is a unique opportunity to do so and I am delighted that every council has opted in.

"We now have an opportunity to offer real and lasting change for these families and the communities around them. Everyone will benefit from getting kids off the streets and into school; getting parents off benefits and into work; and cutting youth crime and anti-social behaviour. But it is also right that we will only pay councils in full if they deliver the results that we require."

It is estimated that these families put a £9 billion drain on public spending, amounting to £75,000 per family per year, with £8 billion of this spent on reacting to, rather than getting to the root causes of their problems.

The Government's £448 million three-year budget is drawn from across seven departments in a bid to join up local services dealing with these families on the frontline.

Notes to editors

1. This press release covers England.

2. The Framework Document for Troubled Families Funding can be found here: www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/troubledfamiliesframework.

3. The payment by results outcomes are:

• more than 85 per cent attendance in schools and fewer than three exclusions from school
• a 60 per cent reduction in anti-social behaviour across the whole family
• and a 33 per cent reduction in youth offending
  Payment of £3,900 (in 2012/13)

Plus:

• progress towards work such as referral and attachment to the Work Programme or the European Social Fund provision for troubled families
  Payment of £100 (in 2012/13)

Or:

• one adult in the family moving off benefits and into continuous work
  Payment of £4,000

Local authorities and their partners are expected to make up the remaining 60 per cent of the average £10,000 cost of a successful family intervention.

4. The funding provided under the Troubled Families payment by results arrangements will be available for five out of six troubled families in each upper-tier local authority. This is to minimise double payment for the same outcomes. Government funding has already been provided to support these remaining families. For example, the Department for Work and Pension's £200 million+ European Social Fund provision, the Work Programme and existing government-funded Multi-Systemic Therapy pilots.

5. The Troubled Families Team and the Department for Communities and Local Government will be joined on secondment by Robert McCulloch-Graham who is currently the Director of Children's Services at the London Borough of Barnet. Robert will be starting at the Department on 18 June 2012 and will bring with him experience of working on early intervention for troubled families across Barnet.

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