Asked by: Natalie McGarry (Independent - Glasgow East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which reports commissioned by his Department from external bodies between 1 January 2015 and 31 August 2016 have not yet been published; when each report was commissioned for research; what the nature of the research commissioned was; from which external body or individual person the research was commissioned; what the value was of each such piece of research commissioned; on what date each report was received by his Department; for what reasons the research has not yet been published; and when he plans to publish each report.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Natalie McGarry (Independent - Glasgow East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect that the Government's Troubled Families programme has had on meeting its objectives related to underprivileged communities.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Troubled Families Programme has an important role to play in tackling disadvantage and poverty through its focus on families affected by complex, multiple problems in England. The programme encourages services to consider the overlapping nature of problems which families face - tackling the root causes rather than responding to each problem in isolation. It promotes a new way of working, with services coming together - typically through one dedicated worker - working with and understanding the needs of the whole family instead of constantly reacting to their individual problems.
Through the original programme, launched in 2012, over 116,000 families had their lives 'turned around' using the criteria of the first programme, with children back in school; youth crime and anti-social behaviour significantly reduced; and over 18,000 adults from troubled families into work. The new expanded programme now aims to support 400,000 families with multiple, complex problems by 2020, and transform for the long term the way that public services work with families facing multiple disadvantages.
Asked by: Natalie McGarry (Independent - Glasgow East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the extent of financial and operational links between the social housing sector in Scotland and England.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department has made no such formal assessment. The Social Housing Regulator for England's Regulatory Framework only applies to registered providers of social housing in England. Responsibility for housing is a devolved matter.