Policy Announcements, Wednesday 11 April

**Government  **

• A new project focusing on "problem families" who create trouble in the community has been launched by the government. The Home Office unveiled a network of 53 family intervention projects targeting around 1,500 families across England every year. The scheme, which comes as part of last year's Respect action plan, aims to "give a helping hand" to the country's "most badly behaved families". These families are at risk of losing their home, having their children put into care or being subject to anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos). The level of intervention will depend on the scale of the problem, and could see some families placed under residential supervision.  
• Health Minister Andy Burnham today unveiled nearly £50 million wave of new NHS community hospitals and super-surgeries. Six new health centres, two new community hospitals, and eight refurbished community hospitals will open in towns and cities across the country as part of a major drive to provide NHS patients with more minor operations, medical tests and follow-up care outside of large hospitals.  
• The Department of Health today announced £45m in funding for 29 important and substantial research programmes as part of the National Institute for Health Research into areas such as mental health, medicines for children, diabetes, stroke, and dementias, neurodegenerative diseases and neurology. The programmes of research aim to increase understanding of how to manage and treat these types of diseases more effectively, develop new treatments and help prevent ill health developing in the first place.  

Conservatives  

• Armed forces personnel and their families should be better looked after, the Conservatives have said. The party plans to launch an armed forces families manifesto before the next general election, looking at housing, schooling and healthcare. It accused the government of failing in its duty towards service personnel who put their lives at risk for the nation. Defence minister Derek Twigg said the government was committed to improving housing and medical care for staff. However, shadow defence spokesman Mark Harper said the government "has its priorities wrong" when it came to spending defence money.  

Liberal Democrats  

• The Scottish Liberal Democrats have put a bright future for young people and a renewable energy revolution at the centre of their Holyrood plans. Their 2007 election manifesto has also set out plans for seven-year sentences for knife crime as well as "tough" community sentences. Leader Nicol Stephen said it was a bold and ambitious agenda for Scotland. The party said it also wanted 100 new local health centres, 200 extra NHS dentists and 2,000 nurses. The Lib Dems have set out plans to have all of Scotland's energy generated from renewable sources and claimed their "renewables revolution" would create thousands of jobs. Other key policies include smaller class sizes with 1,000 extra teachers, one hour of physical activity for every child every day and a cut in business rates to below those in the rest of the UK.