6 NEWS INBRIEF Lives of troubled


families highlighted REAL LIFE accounts from families dubbed ‘troubled’ have been shared in a report published by Louise Casey. The stories highlight issues of domestic and sexual abuse, teenage pregnancies, poor parenting and educational difficulties with problems often passing from generation to generation. Head of Troubled Families Policy Louise Casey, who carried out some of the interviews described it as an “eye opening experience”. The research sought to reinforce the


validity of the Troubled Families programme in which upper tier local authorities are paid up to £4,000 per eligible family on a payment by results basis if they reduce truancy, youth crime, and anti-social behaviour, or put the parents back to work. The funding comes from the


Department for Communities and Local Government as part of the Government’s £448million three-year budget across seven departments. • Find the report at www.communities.gov.uk/publications/c ommunities/listeningtroubledfamilies 9


Scottish policing reform gains momentum


THE Bill which creates a single Police Service of Scotland from April 2013 received Royal Assent in August. The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland)


Act 2012 had been approved by the Scottish Parliament in June. As well as the merging of the country’s eight police forces, the act will also create a streamlined structure with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and the Scottish Police Services Authority being amalgamated into the single service. A chief constable is currently being


recruited at a salary of £208,000 and someone to chair the Scottish Police Authority is being sought. Overall the government hopes the


single force will save £1.7 billion over 15 years. 9


GRAPEVINE Autumn 2012


PCSO Gill Murphy and partner Nicola Webb “made sacrifices” to get on the property ladder


Women put life plans on hold


WOMEN in the Police Service are almost twice as likely as their male colleagues to put off getting on the property ladder due to the current economic climate, according to a recent survey by Police Mutual. The survey revealed that women working in policing were more likely to delay major life plans than their male colleagues, with just 27 per cent saying they had been unaffected compared to 38 per cent of men.


Nearly 12 per cent of female officers and


staff who responded said they’d had to delay buying their first home, compared to just six per cent of male officers and staff. Women were also more likely than men to delay planning holidays (around one-in- three compared to one-in-four), starting a family (nearly nine per cent compared to just over three per cent) or paying off debt (around one-in-four compared to one-in- five). The findings come from Police Mutual’s


‘Portrait of the Police’ survey, which saw almost 5,000 serving and retired officers and staff share their concerns about their future finances, attitudes to retirement and the impact of spending cuts and changes to their pensions. Staffordshire PCSO Gill Murphy says she


only got on the property ladder in 2010 when she was 26, and wished she had done it sooner.


“I kept putting it off as I was concerned


that I wouldn't be able to afford it, or I'd end up having no money for the rest of my life. I've now discovered that it's cheaper to have a mortgage than it was to rent however, the initial deposit is a hurdle itself. My partner and I worked hard and made sacrifices to save as much as possible and the rest we made up with a small loan,” added Gill. Gill says her next major decision is when


to start a family, something her and partner Nicola kept delaying. “I was always concerned about the affordability of it all as we were in a same sex relationship so had to pay for IVF. Although I soon realised that if I was always waiting for the right time then it would never come and I would be too old,” she said. Police Mutual’s Chief Executive, Stephen


Mann, says women are under-represented among their membership and that they are looking at ways to address this. It is something close to the heart of the PMAS Chair, Julie Spence, former president of BAWP, who said: “We do offer practical ways to help members get to grips with their finances, such as financial education and money coaching and would love to see more women taking advantage of them.”9


To read the full Portrait of the Police report, visit policemutual.co.uk


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