A Government unit set up to tackle 120,000 ‘problem families' identified by prime minister David Cameron following the autumn riots will be managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Following Whitehall turf wars over the leadership of the programme – involving Michael Gove at the Department for Education, and Iain Duncan Smith, at the Department for Work and Pensions - the unit will be headed by victims' commissioner Louise Casey, under the stewardship of communities secretary Eric Pickles.