Nottingham is one of the 20 areas that will receive a share of £13 million to help them set up an Intensive Intervention Project that will challenge and support youngsters in trouble.

Nottingham has been awarded up to £650,000, over three years, to help challenging young people by setting up the projects.

Evidence has shown that these types of projects are effective in turning around the lives of young people and their families through a highly targeted package that will both challenge young people – and their parents if necessary – to do better, as well as support them in overcoming their problems. The projects will be set up in 20 areas across the country over the next three years, meaning that up to 3000 young people are expected to benefit in total by the end of this period.

Beverley Hughes,Children and Young People’s Minister, who announced the funding, said: "These projects aim to help parents who often don’t know where to go or who to turn to next to help them tackle the problem behaviour of their child. They are sometimes unable to get the support and help they need from local services.

"The focus of these projects is on prevention and support. It’s non-negotiable and so we will intervene early to stop young people getting into a situation where their bad behaviour can spiral out of control and enforcement has to be used. But where enforcement is necessary it will be used and that will be made clear from the outset if young people don’t cooperate."

Councillor David Mellen, Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio holder for Children’s Services, said: "This project will help us to engage with our young people who are facing difficult situations and help them to develop the confidence that change is possible for them. By working with up to 50 young people and their families each year, we hope to help develop stronger parenting and better choices for the future. This is an important part of our targeted intervention work in the City."

Anne Weinstock, Director of the Youth Taskforce, said: "Nottingham is one of the areas we are working with to tackle youth crime, using a 'triple track' approach of enforcement, non-negotiable support and prevention.  Nottingham has been funded to launch these projects as part of their drive to protect communities against anti-social behaviour and support young people at an early stage, alongside enforcement measures where necessary."