The government’s ‘Troubled Families’ programme saves taxpayers £11,200 per family, new government figures reveal.
The £448 million programme involves partnership work with local authorities to help families struggling with unemployment, youth crime, truancy and antisocial behaviour.
Since its establishment in 2012, it has generated a ‘profit’ for taxpayers of £1.2 billion, according to the new analysis, by the Department for Communities and Local Government. An average of only £5,214 per family has been spent on interventions,
By contrast, ‘troubled’ families cost taxpayers on average of £26,000 before the programme began, a figures which includes benefit payments, local authority care and police involvement. Costs could reach £44,000 for the most troubled families.
A total of approximately 120,000 families have been involved in the programme, and nine out of ten have benefitted from the intervention the government insists, with some finding work.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles asserted:
“The Troubled Families programme has been a triumph.”
