Troubled families programme has not proved its effectiveness

"The Public Accounts Committee report says that Government has not proved the effectiveness of a programme to support troubled families."
"The Committee also concludes the Government overstated the programme's success through its use of terminology and the method used to estimate financial savings to the taxpayer."

"Families were considered `turned around` on the basis of short-term outcomes rather than `long-term, sustainable change in families' lives`, says the Committee, while £1.2 billion of claimed savings was an overstatement."

"An official evaluation of the programme was `unable to find consistent evidence` the Troubled Families programme had any significant impact."
"The first phase of the Troubled Families programme was launched in April 2012 with initial central government funding of £448 million between 2012 and 2015."

"It followed a commitment in 2011 by the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, to `turn around' the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families in England by 2015."

"The report describes the delay of more than in year in publishing the phase one evaluation, commissioned by the Government to assess the programme's impact, cost-effectiveness and implementation, as `unacceptable`."

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news-parliament-2015/troubled-families-report-published-16-17/