Council areas with the largest number of troubled families have signed-up to the Government’s payment-by-results scheme.
Ten authorities - Birmingham, Lancashire, Kent, Manchester, Essex, Leeds, Liverpool, Bradford, Norfolk and Sheffield, stand to gain £4,000 funding for each family helped from a £78m Department for Communities and Local Government cash pot.
With the cost of intervention set at £10,000 per family, councils will be expected to meet the remaining £6,000 costs. From the payment by results scheme, however, Birmingham stands to receive just under £14m for supporting 4,180 troubled families, Lancashire around £8.8m for 2,630 households and Sheffield £5.6m for 1,680.
These councils will see a steady fall in the proportion of upfront costs the DCLG will cover for the payment-by-results scheme as ‘attachment fees’ - from 80% in 2012/13 to 60% in 2013/14 to 40% by 2015.
Participating authorities will have local discretion to choose which households meet the criteria for support. Selection measures include families involved in crime or anti-social behaviour, or those affected by truancy or exclusion from school – in addition to claiming out of work benefits.
