Following the news that all local authorities eligible to run the Government’s Troubled Families Programme have signed up to the payment by results model, communities secretary Eric Pickles has revealed how much money councils will be given over three years to help turn around the lives of families with multiple and complex social, health and economic problems.
The Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled plans for the Troubled Families Unit in 2010, intended to help 12,000 families in England.
The programme, which aims to end criminality, get children back into school and parents ready to work, is being headed by Louise Casey, currently independent victims commissioner, who will report to the communities secretary.
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.’
A framework for the Troubled Families Funding, aimed at local authorities taking part in the programme, was published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in March.
