Conservative Controlled Council Leads the Way

A new government initiative aimed at turning around the lives of ‘troubled families’ has been welcomed by Tamworth Borough Council as an opportunity to build on the work already being done by the community safety hub and other public sector partners.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced earlier this week that £448 million is being made available to councils across the UK to help tackle problems faced by ‘troubled families’, including anti-social behaviour, truancy and youth crime.

In Staffordshire, more than £4.6 million is being made available to Staffordshire County Council, which will work in partnership with Tamworth Borough Council to help transform the lives of the Tamworth families identified as fitting into the ‘troubled’ criteria.

Under the new programme, councils will be encouraged to ‘join up’ the efforts of the various agencies involved with ‘troubled’ families – including the police, social workers, teacher and doctors.

Tamworth Borough Council has been leading the way in this sort of working since April 2011 when the Community Safety Hub opened at Tamworth Police Station. The hub brings together organisations working together to keep people safe, including the police and the council. The next step will be to develop greater integration with other services.

Representatives based at the hub include street wardens, housing officers, victim support staff, domestic violence co-ordinators, Neighbourhood Watch, Townsafe and Turnaround Tamworth. Closer working has led to better sharing of information and much quicker resolution of issues.

Cllr Jeremy Oates, Cabinet member for Community Development, said, “Once again, Tamworth Borough Council is leading the way. This new programme will allow us to build on and extend the work we are already doing through the Community Safety Hub and take it to another level.

“We want to take an enabling role, helping families with problems to take control of their own lives and moving them away from being totally dependent on help from various agencies. We want to have a hand in turning the lives of families around.”