£500k to be spent on troubled families

The Government is giving Staffordshire County Council £175,000 a year for the next three years to help 1,400 families in the region.

Across Staffordshire of these 1,400 families there are 114 households that fall in to the most troubled category, which means at least one family member is involved in crime or anti-social behaviour, have children not in school, and have an adult out of work and claiming benefits.

The scheme is being run on a payment-by-results basis and the county council has decided that the funding will be used to employ a team of co-ordinators to work on the ground.

Staffordshire county councillor Robbie Marshall, cabinet member for community safety, said: "Earlier this year the Government announced extra funding to support the families most in need of support in the country.

"In Staffordshire 1,400 potential families were identified and over the summer we have been working closely with our partners to pinpoint who these families are.

"While we already do some excellent work through initiatives such as Families First the extra funding allows us to build on this and is a huge opportunity to work further with parents, children and the wider community to really help families turn their lives around."

Under the deal, the Government pay councils if they tackle the problems causing high rates of truancy, youth crime and anti-social behaviour or put parents on a path back to work. Families will each get a key worker who will help work though their problems and bring in specialist services as required.