On Wednesday 23rd January, Rugby MP Mark Pawsey asked the Prime Minster during Prime Minister’s Question Time to ensure local authorities used all available resources to turn around the fortunes and lives of some of the most troubled families in the UK. Mark highlighted a report by the Department for Communities and Local Government that said £224 million was saved by councils in Greater Manchester through improving the lives of troubled families in their area.
Speaking after his question to the Prime Minister, Mark said:
“I was delighted to be able to ask my second question to the Prime Minister in two weeks. I was very grateful to have been able to put two very important issues to the Prime Minister in the space of a week”.
Mark continued:
“Turning around the lives of troubled families is vitally important for those families’ futures. Persistent truancy, an ethos of a ‘life-on-benefit’ and anti social behaviour are all issues that can be radically redressed if we continue to do all we can to support these families. And of course supporting these families will also help save local government substantial amounts of money in the future”.
Mark concluded:
“I was delighted with the Prime Minister’s response. He commended any approach that will help troubled families and pointed out that one council spent up to 20% of its budget on just 3% of its families. It is precisely because of statistics like this that we must focus our attention on turning around the lives of the most troubled families in the UK”.