A consortium has won a contract to independently evaluate the DCLG's £448m troubled families programme, ministers have announced.

The Ecorys UK consortium - a group of five independent research groups including pollsters Ipsos MORI, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research - has been awarded a three-year deal worth up to £1.3m following a full tender process.

Costs of the assessment will be shared between the DCLG, which is contributing up to £335,000 per year, and the Local Government Association (LGA), which is picking up the remainder of up to £100,000 annual contract costs.