Troubled Families Scheme Has Made 'No Significant Impact'

A government initiative to help the most disadvantaged families in England has made no "significant impact", a report suggests. The Troubled Families Programme launched in 2012 at a cost of £448m, with £900m added as it was extended. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggests it has had no measurable effect on school attendance, employment or behaviour. But the government says lives have been "transformed" and the scheme works. The programme - set up by former Prime Minister David Cameron following the 2011 riots in English cities - was intended to turn around the lives of 120,000 of the most "troubled" families. Read more on the NIESR website.

Economists Gang Up Against Help to Buy Scheme

The government's flagship Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme has united economists in condemnation, according to one leading expert. Jonathan Portes, director at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and former chief economist at the DWP, told delegates at the Chartered Institute of Housing conference that the £12bn scheme would inflate house prices without boosting supply.  "Help to Buy has one real achievement, which is often thought to be impossible," he said. "It has managed to unite every single economist I know. It is a policy which has managed to unite the entire economics profession in condemnation as a policy which is likely to push up demand while achieving virtually nothing on supply. It is a backhanded compliment to the government to say they have managed to achieve this."  Read more on the Guardian website.