Plymouth is the first stop on the agenda for a government minister looking at how to tackle so called problem families.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles will visit the Green Ark children's centre in Devonport as the government proposes a four hundred and fifty million pound project to work with families where parents are unemployed or children are not turning up at school.

Plymouth has been chosen because it already has a family intervention project which sends in key workers to help those who are having problems.

Children's services are likely to have to make savings of more than a million pounds though as part of budget cut backs.