Councils must offer more help and support to Britain’s most troubled families – who Ministers believe were behind the riots in Birmingham, Manchester and London over the summer, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has said.

He called on authorities to work closely with the Government’s new troubled families unit, which was unveiled by David Cameron to lead the Government’s response to the riots.

Louise Casey, previously Tony Blair’s “respect tsar”, is to head the new unit tasked with addressing Britain’s 120,000 problem families.

Ministers have argued those families were behind much of the looting and violence in August.

But the focus of the unit will be to prevent future trouble by helping the families turn their lives around.

In a speech to local government leaders gathered for a conference in London, Mr Pickles said: “The moment some children are born their life chances are simply written off.

"From day one their lives are defined by the problems that surround them – drugs, alcohol, crime, mental illness and unemployment. They grow up in chaos and their own lives are chaotic.

“During the summer riots the whole country got a sudden, unwelcome insight into our problem families – the ones that make misery in their communities and cause misery to themselves.

"It’s a story of futility and waste. Waste of money. Waste of people. And it has simply got to stop. We are going to stop it. We can no longer afford the luxury of fruitless, uncoordinated investment. The damaged lives and communities.

“We need action and results – not endless restating the problem – like getting kids back to schools, adults into employment, stopping criminal behaviour.”

Ms Casey will report to Mr Pickles and work closely with other Ministers across government including Theresa May, the Home Secretary.

She was previously the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses, responsible for protecting the interests of victims of crime.