David Cameron: Time to act on troubled families who damage the lives of all around them

MY family is the most important thing in my life. For me, family life means love, stability and home. And I know that’s true for many Yorkshire Post readers as well

But for many people, family life is far from stable. Take Bethany, a single mum in her 20s with two children. Bethany’s mum drank a lot and had many abusive relationships when her daughter was growing up. Bethany herself started taking cannabis when she was 12, and continued to use drugs when she was pregnant with her own children.

Interviewed last year, Bethany said: “I really haven’t had a mum, she didn’t have one, I sometimes think I’d have been better off if my mum had gone.”

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Stories like this are heart-breaking and far too common. There are too many children growing up in Britain, in homes that are chaotic and even frightening; homes affected by alcohol addiction, drug dependency, chronic worklessness and crime. Families where parents are more likely to tell their children to run out to the off-licence than to do their homework.

These are some of Britain’s most troubled families and we are setting out to identify them and turn their lives around, for all our sakes.

Because it’s not just people like Bethany who suffer – it’s you. Some of these families cost local taxpayers millions of pounds in social workers, police call-outs, court hearings, and all the rest of it. Getting a proper grip on these families and turning their lives around helps them and helps us.

So that’s what we’re doing. We have estimated the number of troubled families across Yorkshire. Almost 2,200 families in Leeds, over 1,750 in Bradford, almost 1,700 in Sheffield, over 1,100 in Kirklees, and over 900 in Wakefield. In the whole of the UK, the number adds up to almost 120,000.

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In partnership with local councils, we’re sending out a dedicated, experienced professional who works with each family to really get to grips with their problems – whether that’s getting into a proper alcohol rehab programme or making sure the kids get into school.

This is no gimmick or soft PR exercise. Nor is it throwing good money after bad.

Councils are paid by the results they achieve –and so have a real incentive to make the scheme work.

We’ve made £448m available over three years for this. And families on the scheme are given a tough message: work with us to sort your lives out or face the consequences with the police and the courts further down the line.

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New figures this week have given us an update on how the scheme is performing in Yorkshire.

In Leeds and Sheffield, councils are already working with 500 families. In Bradford the number is almost 250, 150 in Kirklees and almost 100 in Wakefield.

We’re not complacent and know there’s still a long way to go. But the results so far are encouraging. In Leeds, it’s been estimated that 135 families have already achieved big changes, like dramatically improved attendance rates at school for children, a serious reduction in anti social behaviour, or at least one family member moving off benefits and into work.

And we’re also taking the scheme a step further. This week we commit to funding 150 specialist employment advisors to work on the programme.

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In each local authority, a dedicated team will offer practical support to help people get back into work.

These advisers will help people write CVs, coach them for three interviews and help them find jobs in the area.

Families come in all shapes and sizes. But the overwhelming majority offer the same thing – unquestioning love and support. An anchor for people as they work hard and try to get on life. This Government is determined to do everything it can to ensure that’s true for everyone.