Blears: Carrot and stick

The Home Office has announced new funds and resources to help communities tackle nuisance neighbours and "families from hell".

Policing minister Hazel Blears and Louise Casey, national director of the government's anti-social behaviour unit, unveiled £1.25 million of new funding for 50 "action areas".

Visiting a family support project in Salford, Blears said she wanted to rehabilitate the worst families and encourage members of the public to take action against disruptive neighbours.

Ministers believe a core of problem families - two thirds of which have children - are behind a large chunk of the crime and low-level disorder in the country's poorest communities.

Using a carrot and stick approach, the government wants to extend the use of anti-social behaviour orders and on-the-spot fines, as well as funding more parenting classes.

A review of 100 problem families found that 45 per cent believe that enforcement orders, which ultimately threaten families with eviction from council homes, are successful at improving behaviour.

"We are announcing £1,250,000 for our 50 anti-social behaviour action areas to do some really intensive work with the small number of families who create havoc for other people," Blears said.

"It really is a combination, as is everything in our policy, of tough enforcement and very targeted support," she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"We have been reviewing 100 families over the last year and we have found that 40 per cent of them say that enforcement has really helped them change their behaviour, and for 30 per cent it was the support that got them to change their behaviour.

"So it's clear to me that tough enforcement, the possibility of looking at eviction, actually does concentrate minds wonderfully, but also real support for families that have got a range of problems."