15 September 2006
Social exclusion minister Hilary Armstrong this week warned local authorities and government departments that they must improve the way they deliver services to Britain's most vulnerable groups – or face Whitehall intervention.
In an interview with Public Finance, Armstrong said she would be 'the thorn in the side' of town halls and departments that continually fail to deliver improvements in programmes targeted at the 2.5% most socially excluded individuals and families.
Local authorities that under-perform against future targets and Public Service Agreements to reduce teenage pregnancies, improve conditions for children in care and develop effective criminal justice schemes for regular offenders, for example, face intervention.
But Whitehall departments such as Health, Education, Work and Pensions and the Home Office must also show improvements in services such as welfare-to-work programmes under Armstrong's social exclusion action plan, launched on September 11.
The widely anticipated initiative, strongly backed by Prime Minister Tony Blair, follows the government's pre-election pledge to improve social conditions and life chances among the most disadvantaged groups.
They include those who fall through the welfare net, engage regularly in antisocial behaviour and suffer from low education levels, long-term unemployment and high crime rates.
Speaking at the launch of the plan, Ruth Kelly, the local government secretary, said that her forthcoming white paper 'will look at how we can give local services the flexibility to tackle these difficult issues. It will also explore how we deal with those local authorities who fail to grip this important agenda.'
Armstrong told PF that the programme was 'risky and challenging'. While she did not envisage a heavy-handed approach to monitoring improvements, she warned her Cabinet colleagues that 'all departments… must be far more systematic about the way services are delivered and co-ordinated'.
Armstrong outlined a £13m funding package, pooled from existing departmental budgets, to kick-start the initiative. This includes £7m from the Department for Education and Skills' coffers to fund pilot schemes supporting infants born into the poorest families.
The remaining £6m will fund pilot projects targeting 'chaotic adults', including mentoring schemes from voluntary sector organisations, mental health treatments to help unemployed people back into work, and drug addiction programmes.
A 'centre of excellence' for children and family services, which will identify projects that provide good services and value for money, is also planned.
PFsep2006
