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Troubleshooters to be sent in to help problem families 'Problem families': David Cameron promises
(about 1 hour later)
  
David Cameron is outlining plans for a network of "troubleshooters" to give more focused support to England's most troubled families. David Cameron says he is determined to "get to grips" with tackling England's most troubled families by pledging a network of troubleshooters.
The PM says many will get targeted support with their own family worker - rather than dealing with a "string of well-meaning, disconnected officials". The PM promised more targeted support, with families getting one dedicated worker rather than a "string of well-meaning, disconnected officials".
He has promised to turn around the lives of 120,000 families by 2015. The government will provide £448m - but councils must provide 60% of funding.
But Labour said ministers had cut back Family Intervention Projects and work councils had been doing on the issue. Labour say ministers have cut Family Intervention Projects and the work councils had been doing on the issue.
Under the government's measure, families need to meet five out of seven criteria, including truanting children, parents with addiction and anti-social behaviour, to be classified as "troubled". Mr Cameron has promised to turn around the lives of 120,000 families by 2015.
Under the government's measure, families need to meet five out of seven criteria - including truanting children, parents with addiction and anti-social behaviour - to be classified as "troubled".
'Ruining their lives''Ruining their lives'
It is diverting £448m from existing departmental budgets over four years to pay for a network of people who will identify families in need of help, make sure they get access to the right services and that action is taken. The government is diverting £448m from existing departmental budgets over four years to help pay for a network of people who will identify families in need of help, make sure they get access to the right services and ensure that action is taken.
They will be hired by local councils and will report progress to Louise Casey, the newly appointed head of the Troubled Families Team. But the money will only cover 40% of costs, and councils who want to use it will have to agree to fund the other 60% themselves. Workers will be "paid by results", Mr Cameron said - for example, are children in school, are parents in work and has anti-social behaviour stopped?
BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said local authorities would decide who was best placed to act as the troubleshooter - so it could be a local charity or a private firm bidding for the role, and would be paid by results. Progress will be reported to Louise Casey, the newly appointed head of the Troubled Families Team.
Families who refused to cooperate could face benefit sanctions or eviction - but Downing Street says the vast majority want help with their problems. BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said local authorities would hire the troubleshooters, who could be from organisations including local charities and private firms.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles told the BBC while it was "conventional wisdom" that many of these families would refuse help "what we have found is where a number of leading authorities have been able to bring the different agencies together, they were able to confront these families, they weren't able to dodge between the different agencies and we were able to be frank with them that they were ruining their lives". But she said there were some concerns that the money was not enough to tackle the problem, and cash-strapped councils would have to find much of the funding themselves.
Mr Cameron is delivering a speech in Birmingham calling for "leadership at the top, action in councils and results on the ground". Families which refuse to co-operate could face benefit sanctions or eviction - but Downing Street says the vast majority want help with their problems.
Ministers are modelling their strategy on the family intervention project adopted by the last Labour government in which a single social worker is sent in to gain an overview of the problems facing a family and to recommend the best course of action. In a speech in Birmingham, Mr Cameron said he was an optimist, and the families depicted in the press as "neighbours from hell" should not be "written off as unreadable or unteachable".
The prime minister said this intensive approach could "work wonders" and troubleshooters would "see the family as a whole and get a plan of action together, agreed with the family". He rejected arguments that a "Shameless culture" was now part of British life, and said it was only a relatively small amount of people who were causing "a large proportion of problems in our society".
"This will often be basic, practical things that are the building blocks of an orderly home and a responsible life. These things do not always cost a lot but they make all the difference." He said there had to be a big change in the way the state interacted with such families, as different agencies currently dealt with different problems: "No-one sees the whole family, no-one grips the whole problem."
"And they will get on top of the services, sorting out - and sometimes fending off - the 28 or more different state services that come calling at the door. Not a string of well-meaning, disconnected officials who end up treating the symptoms and not the causes but a clear hard-headed recognition of how the family is going wrong - and what the family members themselves can do to take responsibility." Instead of a top-down approach which families could find "faceless, disjointed and unhelpful", he wanted to "empower" families to sort out their own problems by providing them with a "single point of focus, a single face, a single person" to deal with.
He said the message was: "We are not coming in to rescue you, you need to rescue yourselves but we will support you every step of the way."
While he said his scheme was a "big ask", he believed turning their lives around was "doable".
Ministers are modelling their strategy on the family intervention project adopted by the last Labour government, in which a single social worker is sent in to gain an overview of the problems facing a family and to recommend the best course of action.
The prime minister said troubleshooters would work out a plan of action with families, which could include basic things like getting children to school on time and making sure they were properly fed - "the building blocks of an orderly home and a responsible life".
And they would help deal with the "28 or more different state services that come calling at the door" so that rather than a string of "disconnected" officials, they could get a "clear hard-headed recognition of how the family is going wrong".
'Incredibly effective''Incredibly effective'
Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of the charity Action for Children which works with troubled families, welcomed the "renewed focus" on the issue and said in her experience, a lot of the families were "delighted" to have help sorting out their problems. Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of the charity Action for Children, which works with troubled families, welcomed the "renewed focus" on the issue and said that in her experience, a lot of the families felt overwhelmed and were "delighted" to have help sorting out their problems.
"Sometimes they can feel overwhelmed by the number of different agencies who are talking to them and the number of problems that they have. If you can get alongside them - and the voluntary sector is particularly good at doing that - and help them to work out solutions to their own problems, in a co-ordinated way, that can be incredibly effective." "If you can get alongside them - and the voluntary sector is particularly good at doing that - and help them to work out solutions to their own problems, in a co-ordinated way, that can be incredibly effective."
Ministers say troubled families are costing the state an estimated £9bn a year in terms of spending on the NHS, the police and social services.Ministers say troubled families are costing the state an estimated £9bn a year in terms of spending on the NHS, the police and social services.
Most support for families is now provided through local authorities, although sometimes contracted out to other organisations. However funding for early intervention grants has been cut by more than 10%. Most support for families is now provided through local authorities, although sometimes contracted out to other organisations. However, funding for early intervention grants has been cut by more than 10%.
Barnardo's chief executive Anne Marie Carrie said the voluntary sector had an important role to play in helping families - particularly as they were often seen as less stigmatising. Barnardo's chief executive Anne Marie Carrie said the voluntary sector had an important role to play in helping families, particularly as they were often seen as less stigmatising.
But she said: "Worryingly, 67% of Barnardo's services that have been hit hardest by local authority cuts have been those which provide family support or early intervention for children in difficulty. This means some families now have to wait until their problems are more serious before getting the help they need." But she added: "Worryingly, 67% of Barnardo's services that have been hit hardest by local authority cuts have been those which provide family support or early intervention for children in difficulty. This means some families now have to wait until their problems are more serious before getting the help they need."
She urged councils and the government to involve charities in planning and delivering services.She urged councils and the government to involve charities in planning and delivering services.
For Labour, Gloria De Piero said there was only so much troubleshooters could do when cuts were hitting family intervention projects.For Labour, Gloria De Piero said there was only so much troubleshooters could do when cuts were hitting family intervention projects.
"In addition, the government has torn up Labour's total place programme, which was bringing together all of the local agencies needed to provide services to families, and saved money, setting this work back."In addition, the government has torn up Labour's total place programme, which was bringing together all of the local agencies needed to provide services to families, and saved money, setting this work back.
"This is important work but if David Cameron demands results from local authorities, whilst pulling the carpet from beneath them while reforms are being shelved, this could be a wasted opportunity to properly expand Labour's family intervention policies." "This is important work but if David Cameron demands results from local authorities whilst pulling the carpet from beneath them while reforms are being shelved, this could be a wasted opportunity to properly expand Labour's family intervention policies."