Government targets 1,120 “troubled families” in the East End
Tower Hamlets Council is set to receive government cash to deal with around 1,120 “troubled families” in the borough.
The East End has the highest number of these dysfunctional families – deemed as suffering from a range of problems such as no-one having a job, children playing truant or causing crime, a severe lack of money in the household and mental health issues – in London.
Across England there are 120,000 troubled families and they are costing the taxpayer �9billion a year, the Communities department said.
The government will give the council 40 per cent of the cash it needs to send in specialist staff to help children back into school, reduce their anti-social behaviour and get parents back to work.
The rest must be made up by the local authority.
Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman said the council already has an “innovative, on-going” intervention project for families with complex issues and said it has been so well regarded it is set to be rolled-out in other boroughs next year.
He added: “The quality of support that is currently available to families in Tower Hamlets means that the number of families meeting the government’s ‘troubled’ criteria is subject to fluctuation.
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“The council is pleased that additional resources may be available, however, against the backdrop of unprecedented budget cuts by the government, it is highly dissapointing they will only be providing 40 per cent of the funding for their own project.”
