The Government has ‘overstated' the effectiveness of its Troubled Families programme and been ‘evasive' in its dealings with MPs, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said today.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) considered families to be ‘turned around' on the basis of short-term outcomes rather than ‘long-term, sustainable change in families' lives,' the committee found.
MPs also argued that the Government's claim the programme had saved £1.2bn was an ‘overstatement'.
The PAC report also chastised the Government for delaying the publication of the programme's phase one evaluation.
‘The department was evasive when explaining the reasons for this delay, furthering the impression that government is reluctant to be open and transparent about the Troubled Families programme,' the PAC said.
The committee also urged the DCLG to review its use of payment by results, which it claimed led ‘some councils attempting to move families through the programme quickly, potentially at the expense of reduced quality of support'.
PAC chair Meg Hiller said: ‘Government officials might be inclined to consider our comments on the delay in publishing its Troubled Families evaluation as a slap on the wrist about Whitehall bureaucracy.
‘Let me assure them that given the ambitions for this programme, the implications for families and the significant sums of money invested, it is far more serious than that.'
Senior civil servants have defended their work, telling the PAC there had been improvements in 116,000 families but it was difficult to prove ‘beyond statistical doubt' that success could be ascribed to the programme.
A government spokesman said: 'As the PAC report recognises, the Troubled Families programme enabled local authorities to expand and transform the way local services work with families.
'But, of course, there will always be lessons to learn and we have already made significant improvements to the second stage of the programme.
'We will look carefully at the evidence to find out how we can improve the programme further to help some of the most vulnerable people in our society.'
