Communities secretary Eric Pickles launched the project last month, building on the existing ‘Community Budget’ pilots – which have examined the way that different public agencies work with troubled families, and considered ways of tackling duplication and waste.
Under the three-year scheme, councils can earn up to £4,000 if they succeed either in tackling a family’s truancy, antisocial behaviour and youth offending, or in helping a family member move off benefits into work. Councils are expected to find the extra £6,000 that each intervention is expected to cost.
The ten councils, which include six cities, are those with the largest number of troubled families: more than 23,000 all told. They will be helped to identify target families under an information-sharing agreement between local authorities and JobCentre Plus.
The incentive fund has been provided by the communities, education, health, and work & pensions departments, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice.