The FIPs don't work, says leading academic

Family intervention projects (FIPs) were not the success in the last decade that the Labour government claimed, according to a report published by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.

Professor David Gregg, the report’s author, suggested there was little evidence supporting Labour’s views of its flagship anti-social behaviour policy.

He said successive evaluation teams included large caveats to claims of project success but the government ignored these in media statements and other public policy announcements.

The claimed success rates for FIPs were based only on a core sample of the families that were most compliant, he added.

Gregg’s report, Family Intervention Projects: a classic case of policy-based evidence, “seriously questioned” whether ASB interventions were appropriate for people who often have mental health problems, learning disabilities or neurological disorders.

These problems aside, most of the FIP families tended to conform to the norms and values of the communities in which they lived, the report said.

Prof. Gregg said: “I was struck again and again during my analysis of the research by how weak is the evidence base for the claimed success of the Family Intervention Project strategy.”

He added: “By targeting the wrong people for the wrong reasons while failing to tackle the underlying causes in those targeted or delivering support in key areas like mental health the FIP remains at root enforcement-led and sanctions oriented, where someone must be blamed and punished for bad behaviour.

“This ethos justifies forcing very vulnerable families with mental health problems into projects under threat of eviction, loss of benefits and removal of children into care.”

Richard Garside, director at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, called for a review of the FIP strategy. "This briefing raises serious questions about the efficacy of these projects," he said.