Social bond pilot schemes to run in 2012

Private investors will fund intensive programmes for troubled families under a trial launched by the Government.

Ministers want philanthropists, charities and other organisations to plough cash into projects tackling anti-social behaviour, crime, addiction and poor education. In return for putting money into a Social Impact Bond, investors will be paid a dividend for any successful project.

The Government expects to raise up to £40m across pilot schemes in Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster, Birmingham and Leicestershire, which are expected to be up and running early next year.

Projects will be judged successful if families are taken out of deprivation and long-term dependence on the state, according to the Government. Percentage returns on investments are likely to be in the single digits and will be paid for by local authorities and other organisations such as health trusts. It will be up to them to work out how the intervention projects work and what they deem to be successful.