I was really pleased to be able to take the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP to the Portsmouth Family Intervention Programme run by Barnardo’s. This was a private visit but they have kindly allowed me to write some observations about the programme, which is under Portsmouth Positive Family Steps. The Family Intervention Programme (FIP) is part of the Troubled Families Agenda set up by this Government to help families who are struggling get back on track and into work with support. Across the country, 120,000 were considered as troubled families in 2011 costing £9bn per annum and David Cameron has been determined to turn this round. I was very keen to see how this is working on the ground in Portsmouth so this was a good opportunity to share the work with the politician who initiated the idea.
We were able to talk to three families about their experience of the programme as well as staff from Barnardo’s who lead it. It was very impressive and is working largely because of the holistic approach to the family that means that all members of the family are included and the professional key workers have small caseloads so they are able to devote the time to work with the family and coordinate all the agencies. Each family has one dedicated key worker to coordinate their needs rather than different services getting involved individually which can cause confusion.
During 2013/4 Barnardo’s worked with 140 families with 370 children and have reduced issues like non-attendance at school, drug misuse, antisocial behaviour and youth offending. I was particularly interested to find out what happens to the families when they finish the programme and I was reassured to hear that Barnardo’s keep in touch to make sure that families do not sink again. I have always said that parenting is one of the hardest jobs and there is no training for it so when it goes wrong (which can easily happen to any family), it is incredibly important that there is help to put them back on track. One of the families that we talked to had found a job through Barnardo’s and was returning back to work on the following Monday with the support of Barnardo’s, which is crucial as it will mean a lot of changes for the family.
We talked to families who have had problems with children not attending school, who had problems with debt and fear of losing their home because of rent arrears. Getting people back into work is a big part of the Troubled Families Agenda and the introduction of Universal Credit will help stop the issue of being better off on benefits rather than work. Instead of waiting for 12 months for tax credits, income into the household will be more flexible as credit will be within a month rather than a year.
Prevention is cheaper than the consequences of dysfunctional families but it is not always easy to see the cost benefits so I was delighted to get confirmation from the Secretary of State that the Troubled Families Agenda would be continuing past 2015 and more families included. This is very good news for people in Portsmouth if the programme continues to be effective as our city will become a better and happier place to live.