Parenting projects are poor relation

Only £300,000 of the £24m budget for the government’s
antisocial behaviour unit is set aside for parenting projects, the
home affairs select committee heard this week.

Figures submitted by the unit to the committee’s inquiry on
antisocial behaviour showed that parenting projects received the
lowest amount of funding compared to other activities, including
£9m for crime and reduction partnerships, £3m for
tackling environmental crime and more than £1m to fund
antisocial behaviour prosecutions.

Committee chair John Denham highlighted evidence submitted by
the Youth Justice Board that only 250 youth prevention projects
received government funding, despite a need for 1,300 such
projects.

He also quoted evidence from the Association of Directors of
Social Services about the lack of funding for parenting orders.

Home Office minister Hazel Blears admitted that resources were
“limited”, and suggested putting pressure on local authorities to
divert more resources.

 

More from Community Care

Comments are closed.