Councils increase number of troubled families turned around

Pickles told the Local Government Association conference that English local authorities taking part in the Troubled Families programme had achieved long-term change for 52,833 families they had been working with since its launch in April 2012.

The latest figure, up to the end of May, is a significant rise on the 39,480 families that were reported to have been "turned around" by the Troubled Families programme in March this year. However, it is still less than half way to the government’s target to turn around 120,000 of the most troubled families by April 2015.

Under the programme, local authority teams work intensively with families that have one of seven key risk factors, including children who miss school, long-term unemployment and involvement in crime.

Families are judged to have been turned around if children are back in school for three consecutive terms after previously being truant or excluded; instances of crime and anti-social behaviour are significantly reduced; and adults are in work for at least three months.

The new data shows areas performing well include Wakefield, which has turned around 925 of its 930 troubled families; Leicestershire, which has turned around 772 out of 810; and Bristol, which has turned around 1,158 out of 1,355. 

Pickles said: “To have helped so many families so quickly is testament to the hard work and determination of troubled families teams across the country.

“Nobody is saying that troubled families will become model citizens overnight, but turning them around starts with getting kids off the streets and into school, giving them a better chance in life and helping adults into employment or better able to work.

“This is good for the taxpayer, good for the families themselves and good for the communities around them.”

Councils are paid £4,000 through a payment-by-results framework for each family turned around, with the government allocating £448m for implementation of the scheme.

Earlier this year, both Labour and the British Association of Social Workers called into question the effectiveness of the programme by claiming that it failed to deliver “sustained change” and that one in seven families deemed successfully turned around were still experiencing regular problems.

Despite this, the government announced in March's Budget that it intends to start working with a further 40,000 troubled families through the programme later this year.