Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 9 January (HL Deb, col 113), which projects funded by the Homelessness Prevention Programme have been successful in reducing family and relationship breakdown.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The 84 projects funded through the Homelessness Prevention Programme are multi-faceted and do not concentrate on one particular reason for a household’s homelessness.
They aim to help to ensure that more people have tailored support to avoid becoming homeless in the first place, and receive the rapid support they need to make a sustainable recovery from homelessness.
We are supporting 84 projects working across 205 district and unitary local authorities in England through our £50 million Homelessness Prevention Programme.
Spending includes:
£20 million for local authorities to trial new initiatives, working with a wider group of at risk people to help families and individuals before they reach crisis point;
a £20 million rough sleeping fund to help new rough sleepers, or people at imminent risk of sleeping rough, get the rapid support they need to recover and move on from a rough sleeping crisis; and
£10 million of funding for Social Impact Bonds to provide targeted support for entrenched single homeless people.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 9 January (HL Deb, col 113), which projects funded by the Fair Chance Fund have been successful in reducing family and relationship breakdown.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The £15 million Fair Chance Fund (FCF) was an innovative three year programme designed to improve accommodation, education and employment outcomes for homeless young people aged 18 - 24, who did not have priority need under the homelessness legislation but had a range of support needs which presented barriers to securing and sustaining, accommodation and getting on in life.
Many of the participants had multiple needs, often resulting in on-going problems and issues. This included a history of family and relationship breakdown, alongside other vulnerabilities. The causes of homelessness can be multiple and complex. Where family and/or relationship breakdown is present, it is often just one part of the wider picture. That is why the FCF key workers in all 7 areas worked intensely with the young people by offering tailored support to meet their needs.
Two interim evaluations of the FCF were published last year [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fair-chance-fund-evaluation-interim-reports], and the final evaluation will be published later this year. Findings are being used to inform future policy work on supporting young people experiencing homelessness and on the use of social investment.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 20 March (HL 5929), (1) how many local authorities, through the Troubled Families Programme, have included within their aims (where appropriate) the prevention of parents' relationship instability, and (2) what plans they have to ensure that the Troubled Families Programme takes into account the findings set out in Improving lives: Helping Working Families on the impact of parental worklessness, and associated conflict, on families.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
We do not routinely collect information about how many local Troubled Families programmes include the prevention of parents' relationship instability. My department is working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to help local authorities delivering the Troubled Families Programme do more to tackle worklessness and parental conflict.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of how many councils’ Troubled Families programmes help parents work through difficulties in their personal relationships as well as their parenting skills.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
A survey of key workers found that 82 per cent provide support to address parenting difficulties and issues with their clients at least once a week. Much of the work done with families supports the family, as a whole, to function.