Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and Mike Thornton

Monday 20th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mike Thornton (Eastleigh) (LD)]

13. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the troubled families unit since its creation.

[The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles)]

Thanks to the help of local government and the personal commitment of right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House, we are on track. In November, 18 months into our three-year programme, I announced that over half of the 120,000 families were being worked with and that over 22,000 had been turned around. I hope shortly to be able to give an update, which I think will show even more spectacular figures.

[Mike Thornton]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. I am sure he will be pleased to know that the initiative has been actively and successfully embraced in Eastleigh, with Eastleigh borough council and Hampshire county council working together to transform people’s lives. However, I have heard that some councils are using it as a box-ticking exercise. How can the Department ensure that local councils are genuinely changing lives, not just filling in the appropriate forms?

[Mr Pickles]

There is a robust system in place for verification and checking. Both councils’ internal audits and my Department carry out spot checks, but the hard truth is that there is no reason to do this, because it offers no advantage to a council. In fact, doing it will effectively cost councils more money. In the long term it will save them money, but it means that they have to give an extra commitment. I think it is the commitment we have seen from local authorities that we should be celebrating.