Troubled Families inquiry
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“Recent media reports have suggested that the Government's flagship programme targeted towards 'troubled families' has not had the expected, intended impact. An independent evaluation has been conducted which has reportedly found that programme has had "no discernible" effect on unemployment, truancy or criminality . In 2006, the Government estimated that there were 120,000 families in England facing multiple challenges, such as unemployment and poor housing. It subsequently included other challenges, such as crime and antisocial behaviour. The estimated cost to the taxpayer of providing services to support these families is £9 billion a year, spent either reacting to issues faced by families (£8 billion) or in trying to tackle them (£1 billion). In 2012, DCLG introduced its Troubled Families programme with a budget of £448 million to help the families concerned over a three year period. The programme was set a target against which its ultimate success could be measured. The DCLG's programme was intended to identify and then "turn around" 120,000 families in the period from April 2012 to May 2015. DCLG's target was ambitious, as it required each of the 152 local authorities to transform the lives of an agreed number of families it has identified in its own area as meeting the definition of 'troubled'. Each local authority had shown a commitment to the programme's success and had signed-up to successfully working with a sufficient number of troubled families for DCLG to meet its overall target of 120,000 families.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
The Troubled Families programme was established in 2012 by the Department for Communities and Local Government (the Department) with the aim of “turning around” the lives of 120,000 families with multiple disadvantages. The Department considers a family to be “turned around” if it experiences a significant reduction in levels of truancy, anti-social behaviour, and youth offending, or if an adult in the family moves into continuous employment.
The Department informed us that the programme has impacted positively upon both the lives of troubled families and their associated cost to public services by, for example, reducing the number of times the police are called out. The Department had a target of “turning around” the lives of 117,910 families identified by local authorities as troubled.
It made payments to local authorities for “turning around” the lives of 99% of these. An evaluation commissioned by the Department could not find evidence of whether or not there had been any significant impact. Additionally, publication of the Department’s evaluation of the Troubled Families programme was delayed for more than a year, and we consider this delay to be unacceptable. The Department was evasive when explaining the reasons for this delay, furthering the impression that government is reluctant to be open and transparent about the Troubled Families programme.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 12 September 2016 to its close on 4 January 2018.
- Oral evidence 19 Oct 2016
- Report 20 Dec 2016
- Correspondence 12 Oct 2016
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 33rd Report - Troubled families: progress review ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 19 Oct 2016No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗