Middlesbrough Council - News Forum - Setting a light to the News

Mother gave her daughter three ecstasy tablets as a 13th birthday present, RoboCop mayor claims as he says EACH problem family costs taxpayers up to £600,000
• Children should be 'targeted in the womb to stop problems', Ray Mallon said
• Former detective was speaking out about problem families in Middlesbrough
• He said one household was costing the public purse £600,000 a year
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 18:17, 12 March 2013 | UPDATED: 23:45, 12 March 2013

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z2NRjpVNQ8

A mother gave her daughter three ecstasy tablets as a present for her 13th birthday, it emerged last night.
The woman was reported to social services after handing over the Class A drugs as a special prize for becoming a teenager.
It is understood the family, from Middlesbrough, are now being monitored by social workers – although the mother was not prosecuted.

The case was exposed by the town’s mayor, Ray Mallon, in a bid to highlight widespread social problems.
Mr Mallon said it was just one example of the terrible parenting he had encountered, and added that such incidents led him to ‘despair’.

Social problems blamed on bad parenting are placing a huge strain on council budgets, with many children being taken into care.
One family with six children in care is costing Middlesbrough Council more than half a million pounds a year.

Mr Mallon, a former policeman who earned the nickname ‘Robocop’, said: ‘No one wants to take children into care, but when we have parents whose own upbringing makes them feel giving their children drugs is acceptable, we sometimes have little choice.’
He said one household was costing the public purse £600,000 a year.
Mr Mallon said children should be targeted 'in the womb' to stop problems, as he claimed that they were being let down by parents who abused alcohol and drugs.
Mr Mallon, who has been elected Middlesbrough's mayor three times, said there were 360 children in care in the town.
He highlighted the case when speaking to BBC's Look North about hundreds of troubled families being supported on Teesside.
He told the BBC as an ex-police officer, he often recognised the same family names getting involved in crime.
He said we should target children whilst they're in the womb 'because it's clear that you can work out by the parents which kids are likely to have problems.'
The Government has set up the Troubled Families programme so authorities and their partners can help 120,000 households in England turn their lives around by 2015.

The scheme will see councils receive funding if they tackle problems such as truancy, anti-social behaviour and youth crime.
Mr Mallon was heralded by politicians in the late 1990s when he adopted a zero tolerance stance against crime while a detective superintendent with Cleveland Police.
He was elected on an independent ticket in 2002, and will stand down in 2015.
He has also said today that of the borough’s 23 wards 16 were socially deprived - one of the biggest challenges facing the town right now.
He said for every 16 children taken into care it costs the council £1.2m.

Troubled family in Middlesbrough costing agencies £600k a year - Mallon
by Sandy McKenzie, Evening Gazette
Mar 12 2013

ONE troubled family in Middlesbrough is costing agencies £600,000 a year.
The figure has been revealed by the borough’s mayor Ray Mallon, who has spoken about social deprivation needing to be dealt with to provide economic and social sustainability in the town.
He has also said that in another family a mother gave her daughter three Ecstasy tablets for her 13th birthday.
Mr Mallon said today that of the borough’s 23 wards 16 were socially deprived.
“Social deprivation is one of the biggest challenges facing the town at the present time.
“Dealing with social deprivation is the pre-requisite to the economic and social sustainability of the town. Social deprivation is costing the town millions of pounds. For every 16 children taken into care it costs the council £1.2m.”
The mayor said there are currently 360 children in care in Middlesbrough.
“Many of these children are in care due to neglect because of poor parenting.
“One example of disgraceful parenting was with a mother giving her daughter three Ecstasy tablets for her 13th birthday.
“One family costs £600,000 a year due to numerous interventions by the council and our partner agencies.”
Mr Mallon said the council was engaged in an initiative to target problem families with the aim of “turning them around”.
Mr Mallon said much of the problem was generational.
He said that if the council achieved results it received extra cash from the Government to reinvest in the work to target problem families.
Middlesbrough Council announced last April plans to tackle the 500 worst problem families in the town. Stockton and Redcar and Cleveland councils also have schemes under way.
The coalition Government has set up a national Troubled Families programme aimed at helping 120,00 families across the UK by 2015.
Under the scheme, councils receive funding if they tackle problems such as truancy, anti-social behaviour and youth crime.
Figures last week for the Department for Communities and Local Government showed that Teesside councils had identified around 600 problem families so far and were working with 349 of them.
Figures indicated that Middlesbrough had so far turned around 39 families and 13 had been turned around in Stockton.
Problem families can cost the public purse at least £75,000 a year.

Read More http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teess ... -32972415/

Score: 78
Indie
11:35 AM on 12/3/2013
10 years ago, Labour cllr Bob Brady was deputy mayor and I witnessed him stand up in the chamber and announce - "we run this town"- Labour still run this town with the help of Ray Mallon, therefore whom shall we blame for the state of the town, it's inhabitants and their problems? Let's not forget, the tax payers of Mbro have paid these people a small fortune for what they have or have not done and/or achieved for this town. Who is Mr Mallon blaming for this situation I wonder? Labour cllrs are paid thousands extra for chairing "scrutiny panels" designed to look at problems and find solutions. Why not move over and let someone else have a try because clearly they failed and are still failing- otherwise Mr Mallon would not be making the comments above?

Score: 37
Name withheld
12:01 PM on 12/3/2013
This comment has been removed for violations of our Terms and Conditions.

Score: 68
RockandaHardPlace
12:05 PM on 12/3/2013
What is a 'Troubled Family'? Is it just a politically correct way of saying "house full of scrounging layabouts"?
Typical benefit bunnies. The more you waste on them, the more they expect you to waste on them. Stop their benefits until they behave!

Oracle
12:12 PM on 12/3/2013
£600k is still less than what Mima costs every year.
One rumour which is circulating around the council offices is that Grove Hill was knocked down because Barry PCC Coppinger didnt want to move from his Linthorpe home which is near Grove Hill and he wanted the grove hill people moved on.
I can not see why the estate was demolished so could this be true?
Why did the council spend £14million to knock down the well built houses?
Has the Mayor got any answers?

HoHoHoHo
12:29 PM on 12/3/2013
Mallon has said failing to plan is planning to fail.
This authority under Mallons leadership has failed because there was no plan from the begining, just empty promises and cheap talk.
£600,000 spent on one family, great plan.

burrapete
12:37 PM on 12/3/2013
Social deprivation ? How are they being deprived ?
As one contributor has written - let's stop their benefits and then let's talk about deprivation. They're a combination of scum and bad apples.
Do some proper Social Engineering and let's locate a run down council estate where these people can be put and quarantined from the rest of us who are trying hard to make a "go" of things, especially in these hard times.

danniboi
12:45 PM on 12/3/2013
" if the council achieved results it received extra cash from the Government to reinvest in the work to target problem families"
Only we spent that extra money on lining our pockets and wasting it on really pointless things, in fact we at Middlesbrough's Labour council still do that today, and we would like the good people of Middlesbrough to pay more Tax so we can continue to do this in the proper Labour way; for at least another 10 years.
If we have any left we will of course share it with our good buddy's at Unison maybe have a party or something or perhaps put that extra money back into the local economy by buying a nice house for ourselves to retire in.
In the meantime we will continue to blame central government for everything from broken pavement slabs to the cold weather.
Don't forget Sheep, line up in an orderly fashion on election day and vote for the working man........

Confucius
1:18 PM on 12/3/2013
Isnt it about time this country built army style barracks in the middle of nowhere and moved these families into them?? ..lets face it, they want to live like animals, so let them get on with it, let them wallow in their own swill and let the decent people of this town (country) get on with our lives in peace.

hobo
1:44 PM on 12/3/2013
I'm sure there are small small uninhabited islands of the coast, cant we put these people there. Or maybe its just that the've got to much time on there hands, maybe we should reduce there social payments by 2/3rds and give them a allotment and tell them to feed themselves instead of being parasites feeding on the rest of society.

Indie
2:08 PM on 12/3/2013
billee - well you may think I'm "funny" - that's your prerogative. However, so far, 48 readers agree with my views and sadly - not one agrees with yours ! Now off you pop and think about that.

tripehound
2:13 PM on 12/3/2013
I would have thought that the 'troubled' families were those unfortunate to have to live near these vermin.
I knew plenty of 'deprived' families in the fifties.
Not one of them had criminals in their households, none of them took drugs, burgled their neighbours or committed other crimes.
They weren't angels by any means but they were definitely saints compared to what slouches around the streets of Middlesbrough today.
If they want to be 'deprived' fair enough, deprive them of every last penny of taxpayers' money.

darkcloud
3:45 PM on 12/3/2013
And within this 600k, how many holidays have they had, how many times have they had new clothes, did they have a good christmas on us all, come on lets see a comprehensive breakdown of this cost after all its our money and we should be shown all the details, it seems to me it pays to be a problem family, why has it taken all this money, how many more "families" have hundreds of thousands spent on them, these are the questions the inept evening gazette reporters should be asking and putting into print, mind you the EG must be the councils PR machine

Name withheld
4:31 PM on 12/3/2013
This comment has been removed for violations of our Terms and Conditions.

Score: -4
Boroandproud
5:47 PM on 12/3/2013
tripehound
If so then we realy are in trouble

ClaudeTed
6:42 PM on 12/3/2013
I'd like to see how this £600K has been calculated. I cannot believe any organisation could justify anything like this sort of sum. It's seems like sensationalism to me.
Having said that given what this council does it would surprise me especially as it isn't their cash!

Indie
10:06 PM on 12/3/2013
Contrary to the comment from Rockandahardplace - residents CAN and DO ask questions at the full council meeting. They need to be sent in 7 days before he date of the council meeting and sent to Richard Long, Director of Legal Services, and YES the Gazette reporter DOES report on ALL public questions asked and the answers given. Residents can attend to ask the questions themselves or ask for their question to be read out for them.

Indie
10:11 PM on 12/3/2013
Billee - we are discussing what is wrong with the town here - not the world. So come on let's hear it from you then, who is to blame for what is so very wrong with Middlesbrough today - don't be shy - let's hear it loud and clear.

LOOPYLOO
11:46 PM on 12/3/2013
16 out of 23 wards deprived in Mbro says the mayor. 360 children in care , recognises the family names as generational .
One family costs £600,000 . A disgrace I accept, but ...
One man has cost the town millions and millions demolishing it ....the mayor himself.
What an achievement after 11 yrs in power

We'll crack crime in the womb. - Free Online Library http://www.thefreelibrary.com › ... › October 11, 2004Cached
You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Oct 11, 2004 – (News) by "Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough, England)"; Business Business, ... Crooks of the future will be targeted while still in their mothers' ... The plans were unveiled by Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon Ray Mallon

Byline: Mike Underwood

Crooks of the future will be targeted while still in their mothers' wombs under ambitious crimefighting plans, the Gazette can reveal today.
Teesside mums-to-be from criminal backgrounds will be "intercepted" during pregnancy by Middlesbrough Council teams at health centres and hospitals.
They and their partners will then be offered parenting and lifestyle classes in a bid to change their behaviour and give their offspring a better start in life.

But civil rights campaigners said the scheme could stigmatise families who may find such approaches "patronising and degrading".
The plans were unveiled by Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon, who said generations of the same families were being jailed.
He believes that by influencing and educating parents, children of prolific villains will be prevented from falling into crime.
"We want to influence families," he said.
"The sons and fathers and, in some cases, grandfathers have all been arrested and been in jail and I don't want to see the next generation of the same family going into crime."

Councillor Jan Brunton, Middlesbrough Council's executive member for early years, came up with the idea and is heading the project.
She said parents whose children were most at risk of becoming offenders would be targeted in a partnership operation involving the council, police and health service.
Cllr Brunton said: "We literally want to start from the womb by getting families in to educate them about parenting, healthy eating and lifestyle.
"We want to teach them how to teach their children before they start school."
She said families with criminal backgrounds would be targeted along with vulnerable families which suffered from drug misuse and disadvantaged families.
"This is about giving parents self-esteem and confidence which they can then pass on to their children," she added.
"This is a vision we are aiming for. It isn't going to be a quick fix - it will take years to filter through."

Barry Hugill, spokesman for Liberty, said: "We have no objections at the council offering parenting classes. But it is important there is no notion that parents are told to either agree to this or action will be taken against them.
"It could be patronising and degrading and could stigmatise people."

Cleveland Police said they would look at the progress of the scheme with interest.

The move has been triggered by the Government's Green Paper, Every Child Matters, which requires each local authority to set up an integrated education and social care service by 2006 to help vulnerable children.

Welcome to Middlesbrough Welcome to bullshit city

meanwhile down in Gresham MBC have loadsa money to give away.......

First Come First Served..................... NO LOCALS ALLOWED by Order of the Clowns......

http://bettermiddlesbrough.wordpress.co ... lesbrough/