Troubled Families in Greater Manchester

Abstract

This chapter reports on ‘Troubled Families’ in Greater Manchester, a sub-regional implementation of a controversial national programme in England intended to offer joined-up services targeted at families representing the highest costs to the public purse. Its underpinning principles include early intervention with children and sustained employment for parents. Troubled Families is innovative in the funding mechanism known as Payment by Results (PbR), under which local authorities are paid partly through submitting data to demonstrate that they have met outcomes. The evidence shows that, to some extent, the programme supported a shift towards service integration in Greater Manchester as intended. A particular success factor was co-produced family plans, taking the families’ perspectives into account. Payment-by-results was welcomed by some senior managers but did not prove very supportive of the desired new and positive relationship between public services, communities, individuals and enterprises.