When he talks about 'troubled families', he doesn't mean poor or deprived families he means those who, through 'disruption and irresponsibility', cause 'a large proportion of the problems in society'. To give you an idea of the scale of the problem, there are an estimated 4,500 of these families in Birmingham, 2,500 in Manchester, and 1,115 here in Sandwell.' Today we are announcing, council by council, our estimate from data, mapping where these families are.

'Up to now we’ve talked in terms broad numbers – 120,000 troubled families across the country. Last year the state spent an estimated £9 billion on just 120,000 families…' A culture of disruption and irresponsibility that cascades through generations.We’ve always known that these families cost an extraordinary amount of money……but now we’ve come up the actual figures. Whatever you call them, we’ve known for years that a relatively small number of families are the source of a large proportion of the problems in society. Some in the press might call them ‘neighbours from hell’. Officialdom might call them ‘families with multiple disadvantages’. 'That’s why today, I want to talk about troubled families.Let me be clear what I mean by this phrase.

Late last year, the Prime Minister made an important speech about 'troubled families'. That in turn resulted in sensationalist and misleading headlines the end result, more likely than not, will be bad policy. What began as a shortcut taken by civil servants with the data was translated into a speech by the Prime Minister that simply misrepresented the facts. Now I am not saying, and indeed I don't believe for a moment, that this is what the PM thinks. How would you describe an unemployed single mother, with moderate depression, who can't afford new shoes for her children, and whose roof is leaking? The Prime Minister calls her a 'neighbour from hell', and argues that she, and people like her, are part of a 'culture of disruption and irresponsibility.'

Neighbours from hell 4