Middlesbrough Council - News Forum - Setting a light to the News

Refuse the Work Programme!
Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claimants Refuse the Work Programme!

Please Note we no longer recommend the Refusal letters due to change in wording of letters (WP05),
Simple Guide: "How to deal with the Work Programme" for those placed on it
This guide assumes that you are not already on the Work Programme and not been referred to it.
Firstly, if you can spend 10 minutes or so of your time feel free to read this really important article: Understanding Jobseekers Allowance. Despite the name, its not about telling you what Jobseekers Allowance is... we all know that but understanding the concepts behind the law applicable to Jobseekers Allowance claimants and Jobcentre Plus authority. Once you have this understanding everything else makes more sense, however, you may proceed without reading it.
Down to business.... ideally you need to read this after your Jobcentre Plus adviser has hinted that you will be placed on to the Work Programme soon, or is arranging an appointment for you to be referred.
(1) Refuse to sign the modified Jobseekers Agreement (JSAg).
You have every right to decline changes you are not happy about. If a dispute arises (whether or not they are threatening benefit sanctions) insist that the Jobseekers Agreement is sent to an ajudicator for a decision to be made. These are now indeed a role of a decision maker... but as decision makers are typically associated with benefit sanctions, using "decision maker" in your sentence only encourages the Employment Officer to make a threat about benefit sanctions. We can assure you they cannot sanction you for this.
Why refuse to sign the modified Jobseekers Agreement? Simple, apparently the Work Programme is mandatory (we wont get involved in this for this article but browse this website to find out why) so why does Jobcentre Plus want your permission? Especially after all they have (or will soon) send so much of your personal information (including where applicable sensitive personal data) to a third party without your consent!!
The answer is very simple. They need as much information as possible as "evidence" to enforce their authority. But its mandatory so why do they need to prove your consent? Well we will let you work that out for yourself. As a Government department all decisions must be fair and "just", and they risk judicial reviews at every turn which could damage their authority by forcing a change in law. So they must prove that you understand the law (or atleast agree so much to have an identical understanding as the unnamed decision maker posing as Secretary of State), that you are giving your consent (volunteering as opposed to being forced to undertake a "mandatory" activity), and that you know the consequences (benefit sanctions!!).
Of course this doesn't really have too much binding as protection of say a judicial review, but its gold dust for benefit sanctions. They will automatically accept any sanction doubt thrown their way, however, if you are to stand a good chance of appealing the sanction decision, you must not consent - and you must not consent through the most important agreement for Jobseekers Allowance... the Jobseekers Agreement!!
Make your reason for refusal to be that you are happy with the existing Jobseekers Agreement and feel it is adequate. You can always "cycle your claim" pre-Work Programme if you are advised you are to be placed on it soon (say a few weeks time), simply sign off and do a rapid reclaim in 2-3 days time, keep in mind that you will lose a couple of days money and also you might notice delay in payment of your benefit (pre-sign off and post sign off). This might force them to check you JSAg when you got to your first interview... its normally valid for 3 months before it needs to be changed - this gives good reason to prevent it being changed later in a few weeks for the Work Programme.
As silly as it sounds, regardless of the Rule of Law, to stand a greater chance of punishment (or in some cases... any) it has to be proven that the person has some (even if a basic one) understanding of the law, and that he (or her) knew what he was doing was wrong or illegal. In criminal law, this all relates to mens rea ("guilty mind") and the associated actus reus ("guilty act"). It is said an act doesn't make someone guilty of a crime unless the mind is guilty too. This principle extends through the world in common-law jurisdictions.
Back to administrative law, such as the law used behind benefit sanctions, the principle is somewhat relied on, not that such person is deemed to be guilty of a criminal act, as quite simply any violation of their jobseeker conditions etc. isn't a criminal matter, but somewhat a defacto standard if-you-like on what can withstand the typical risk of a judicial review, and of course a significant chance of a successful appeal. Regardless that you are told about a scheme or act that is "mandatory", it cannot really be implied you have even a basic understanding that it is mandatory unless you give your express consent to the contrary, such as:
• A signature to show you have received a letter to mandate you
• A Jobseekers Agreement (with appropriate wording) - what we are talking about above
• Action Plans at the provider and other documents requiring your signature
• Possibly, you turning up to appointments implying acceptance
This is never clean cut because a provider can play dirty tricks, such as forging a signature or claiming a "FTA" (failure to attend) if refusing to sign. An "FTA" would be difficult to prove if you never signed a previous Action Plan (and not took a copy of it also) as you could simply counter an FTA by saying you never got such appointment to attend; however, the provider has powers to send a letter to force you to attend with or without your consent... be it you receive it, got lost in post or never been sent.
(2) Refuse to sign the data protection waiver
As previously advised, refuse to sign the "optional" data protection waivers. Make it clear you do not consent to your data being shared. Allow them to question your reasons but dont be bullied to change your mind. As soon as you refuse (remember without the consent its less likely they can get a bonus, and it harms their job security... but its not your responsibility to keep them in a job, they have a job, you dont!) they might mark your name... so if you give the consent its a greater chance you will receive a benefit sanction doubt at a later date.
(3) Refuse to provide details to the provider
Instead they will ask you to confirm or deny details they obtained from Jobcentre Plus... do not agree to this. The ICO requires personal information to be correct and up-to-date, hence they ask - and to make sure its correct so they can contact you. Wait, you didn't consent for Jobcentre Plus to share your information with the provider which you gave for the purposes of claiming benefits... not misc services. If you either correct information or confirm, you are giving your consent! (Of course they keep a copy of the initial information!)
Do not give spoof details either, they don't need your contact details to raise a sanction doubt... they only need your name or NI. If you are to get a sanction doubt (for another reason) after giving fake details its unlikely you will be able to have a successful appeal.
(4) Refuse to sign anything (including the fire register - put your name in it though and times in and out) including Action Plans
Whether or not you choose to not turn up to any appointments made is your decision.
It is not mandatory for you to:
• Attend appointments with an advisor
• Agree to or sign an Action Plan (or similar/other documents)
• Undergo any tests or assessments
• Provide any information to the provider
To quote Section 17A (the main law):
(2) Regulations under this section may, in particular, require participants to undertake work, or work-related activity, during any prescribed period with a view to improving their prospects of obtaining employment.
This means simply:
• Undertake full participation in work placements
• Participate in any "work-related" activity: simply anything that might (even in a million years) improve your chances of securing employment (i.e. training modules); but not adviser appointments
(5) Participate in all "work-related" activities
It will be lame and the same stuff that you might have done on New Deal before the dawn of the new millennium... but this is "work-related" activity. Of course the scheme actually isn't mandatory but can only be challenged by judicial review - unless you want 6 months of benefit sanctions!? We thought not.
So anything constituting training or to improve your employment prospects:
• CV and/or Application Form writing
• Interview skills
• Confidence building / building paper bridges (bring a lighter lol - you will be used to burning bridges by now...)
• Job interviews
• etc.

(6) Compromise by disclaimer
Template as follows (copy and paste into Word/Open office):-

I do not consent for my personal information and sensitive personal data to be collected, stored or processed by [provider name]. I have never gave my consent for Jobcentre Plus to share my personal information and to share my personal information without my prior knowledge, against the Data Protection Act, to [provider name]. I will not sign any data protection waiver to enforce this illegal act. I will not confirm, add or deny information already illegal held that might conform a method of consent for it to be held. I request the information is destroyed immediately.
I shall not attend adviser meetings, undergo any testing or assessment, sign any Action Plans or other documents, complete a timesheet or surrender a job log to [provider name] (although I will continue to maintain one to give to Jobcentre Plus for job search evidence) as I have not consented for my data to be used and abused - and there is nothing making me legally obliged to do so.
One of the jobseeking conditions is to undertake 3 steps to look for work each week, I undertake job search on the internet, in the job paper, and in recruitment agency shop windows, and apply for multiple vacancies each week that exceeds this legal requirement. I am a proactive jobseeker and am content with attending any module that will improve my chances of employment by [provider name] as they might instruct me to attend, that is reasonable, agreed in advance and spaced out one per week enabling me the opportunity to put what I may have learnt into practice.

[name]

Tesco in row over advert for unpaid workers as it claims 'expenses plus benefits' offer was a mistake
• Supermarket blame 'IT error' for the blunder
• Campaigners accuse supermarket of cashing in on people's misery
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:41 AM on 17th February 2012
Tesco was accused of exploiting the jobless yesterday after advertising for unpaid nightshift workers.
A vacancy appeared online for the ‘permanent’ role stating that the applicant would receive only Jobseekers’ Allowance plus expenses.
The role is one of hundreds of unpaid positions adopted by the supermarket as part of the Government’s controversial ‘workfare scheme’.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1mbpyAinj

'Back to work' tsar at centre of fraud probe over claims 'funding went on jobs lasting just a day'
By Christopher Leake and Russell Myers
Last updated at 1:43 AM on 19th February 2012
The company run by David Cameron’s ‘Back to Work Tsar’ Emma Harrison is at the centre of a fraud investigation.
The Department for Work and Pensions confirmed last night that a probe into A4e – headed by Mrs Harrison – was under way.
A source at the company told The Mail on Sunday that on Friday afternoon, officers from Thames Valley Police visited the company’s offices in Slough, Berkshire.
The source said they stayed for up to four hours and demanded staff hand over documents and computer files dating back two years. He confirmed: ‘Police were in the office on Friday going back over contracts.’
The source added that police had indicated they planned to make further visits to other A4e offices throughout the country.
It is also the source’s understanding that the police were investigating claims that the company had put some people in jobs for just one day, but claimed the funding nonetheless.
It is believed that Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling was last night made aware of the investigation into A4e.
The company is majority-owned by Mrs Harrison, who has made millions from running her work programmes under both Labour and the Conservatives.
Last week it was revealed that she had been paid an £8.6 million dividend after A4e’s turnover rose to £234 million.
The disclosure that A4e is being investigated for alleged fraud will be an embarrassment for Mr Cameron.
Last year, he appointed Mrs Harrison as his ‘Families Champion’, giving her responsibility for getting problem families back into work.
Mrs Harrison, 48 – who is reportedly worth £70 million – is chairman of A4e, a global multi-million-pound training company. She was once jobless before she drove A4e from a small company set up to retrain redundant Sheffield steelworkers to an operation spanning 11 countries.
The firm has received Government contracts worth millions of pounds over the past 20 years.
Mrs Harrison lives with her husband Jim and their four children – two boys and two girls – in Thornbridge Hall, a Grade II listed 12th Century mansion. It is an opulent ten-bedroom property set in a 100-acre estate in Derbyshire.
They share their home with 11 close friends and the six children they have between them. Mrs Harrison has reportedly described the set-up as a ‘posh commune’.
After completing an engineering degree at Bradford University, she joined her father’s training company but eventually set up her own firm, Action For Employment, in 1991 to provide redundant steelworkers with training to find new jobs.
Multi-million-pound government contracts followed for the Sheffield-based company. In the year to March 2011, A4e’s turnover rose from £190 million to £234 million. Pre-tax profits rose by £5.5 million to £15 million.
Mrs Harrison has appeared on a number of television programmes, once trying to find worthy causes to help on a council estate in Dagenham for Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire.
In 2010, A4e featured in two episodes of the series Benefit Busters and earlier this year she was on screen again, guiding four celebrities in the BBC1 reality series Famous, Rich And Jobless.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: ‘We cannot comment any further on an ongoing investigation.’ But a source said that the probe related to fraud.
Thames Valley Police said it was unable to either confirm or deny whether A4e’s Slough premises had been visited by its officers.
A spokesperson for A4e said: ‘If there are any allegations or investigations of fraud in any of our activities, we will co-operate fully with the DWP and also anything referred to the police.
‘We have a zero-tolerance policy of fraud in A4e.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1mnU7wVDX

Crisis talks at Tesco as supermarket demands changes to unpaid work scheme
By Daniel Martin
Last updated at 11:47 PM on 19th February 2012
Tesco is to hold crisis talks with employment officials as the row over the supermarket chain’s use of ‘slave labour’ intensifies.
Several high-profile companies have already pulled out of the Government’s under-fire ‘workfare’ scheme and the food retail giant is getting increasingly jittery after one of its stores was forced to close by protesters.
Critics say the scheme enables companies to take on staff at little or no cost, with no guarantee of a job at the end of the placement.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1mtnyP3mG

Four ex-staff of government contractor A4e bailed in fraud probe
22 February 2012

A4e is a contractor for the government's welfare-to-work schemes
Four people have been arrested on suspicion of fraud at government contractor A4e, police have confirmed.
The former staff - women aged 28 and 49 and two men, aged 35 and 41 - were held last month and bailed until mid-March.
As part of its work, A4e handles millions of pounds worth of government contracts for welfare-to-work schemes.
The government said it understood the investigation into A4e's offices in Slough, Berkshire, did not relate to its Work Programme.
A4e said the alleged fraud dated back to 2010 and had been uncovered by its own internal investigation.
Thames Valley Police visited the firm's offices in Slough as part of their investigation on Friday.
Global business
A4e chief executive Andrew Dutton said the company had "zero tolerance" towards fraud.
He said: "I will not sit by and let these accusations discredit the hard work that our staff do to support thousands of people into work.
"A4e has zero tolerance towards fraud, and any instance of fraudulent or otherwise illegal activity is completely unacceptable.
"We take our responsibility very seriously, and we are committed to using taxpayers' money effectively and efficiently to deliver the best services to the public."
A4e employs 3,500 people in the UK and abroad, and has more than 250 offices.
The company said in a statement: "This incident relates to four people, so we are dealing with a very small number of individuals."
A4e said three of the staff had been suspended when the allegations were first made and one had already left, but all four had now left.
A police spokesman said: "Thames Valley Police officers visited the offices of A4e in Slough on Friday, 17 February as part of an allegation of fraud, which was referred to the force by the Department for Work and Pensions.
"As part of the investigation, four people... were arrested on suspicion of fraud on 18 January from addresses across the Thames Valley.
"They have all been released on police bail until mid-March. The investigation is ongoing and at an early stage, therefore we are unable to comment further at this time."
Contractor fee
On Monday, Margaret Hodge, Labour chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, called on the government to suspend its welfare-to-work contracts with A4e until the investigation was complete.
The government's main welfare-to-work scheme is the Work Programme.
Under the programme, contractors are paid a fee, usually £400, when a job centre refers an unemployed person to them. It is typically someone who has been looking for work for a year.
Further, larger payment can then be made when a person has been in sustainable employment for up to two years.
The harder the company has to work to find and keep someone in a job, the more money they get.
A4e was founded more than 20 years ago to retrain workers who had lost their jobs in the declining Sheffield steel industry, and still has its registered office in the city. It now works around the world.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: "Clearly we are unable to comment on any investigation but understand these are not matters that relate to the Work Programme."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17122796

Four former staff of Cameron's 'back to work' tsar arrested in major escalation of fraud inquiry
Two men and two women questioned on suspicion of cheating taxpayers
A4e could still receive part of new £126m government contract
Whistleblower says that employees are being made 'scapegoats'
By Sam Greenhill and Daniel Martin
Last updated at 1:46 AM on 22nd February 2012
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1n5YqqlnX

But last night, as a whistleblower made claims contradicting the company’s assertion that the problem involves only a ‘very small number of individuals’, it also emerged:
Advisers say they were placed under relentless pressure to say they had found the unemployed jobs;
They say they were paid £50 bounties each time they placed someone in work – but A4e received nearly £2,000;
Despite the police investigation, A4e could be in line for a share of £126million of new Government contracts.
The Prime Minister appointed 48-year-old Mrs Harrison in 2010 after she boasted she could get problem families into work, but he may be regretting bringing her into the fold after she paid herself £8.6million, mainly taxpayers’ cash, last year.
MPs said earlier this month that her company, which generates the vast majority of its £180million turnover from the taxpayer, had missed many of its targets for putting the long-term jobless into work.
The fraud allegations are understood to concern taxpayers’ money being claimed for finding unemployed people a job, even if the work lasts just a few days.
Last Friday, detectives from Thames Valley Police visited the company’s offices in Slough, Berkshire. The company played down the visit as little more than a ‘chat over tea’ to discuss the fraud probe.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1n5ZMEauO

Tesco makes dramatic U-turn over 'slave labour' scheme offering paid placements and jobs after Twitter outrage Supermarket giant offers to pay young people and guarantee permanent jobs to those who complete programme
Tesco and Argos say if people don't take part they shouldn't risk losing their benefits
By Daniel Martin
Last updated at 11:33 PM on 21st February 2012
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1n5dztljx

'Back to work' tsar's firm facing second fraud inquiry as it's revealed DWP investigated company nine times in recent years
By Jason Groves and Sam Greenhill
Last updated at 12:20 AM on 23rd February 2012
Police have launched a second fraud inquiry involving state contracts run by David Cameron’s millionaire ‘back-to-work’ tsar Emma Harrison.
Mrs Harrison’s beleaguered firm A4e volunteered details of the second investigation last night as it tried to counter claims that it was involved in ‘systemic’ abuse of taxpayer-funded contracts.
The move came after the Department for Work and Pensions revealed it had launched no fewer than nine fraud investigations into the firm in recent years.
Ministers were last night distancing themselves from 48-year-old Mrs Harrison, who was appointed by the Prime Minister in 2010 to help get 120,000 ‘problem families’ into work.
A senior Government source indicated she was likely to lose the role if evidence emerged that fraud was widespread and ongoing at the company, which earned £180million from state contracts last year. Her firm could also be stripped of its current lucrative Government deals.
Earlier this month the Daily Mail revealed that Mrs Harrison had paid herself a dividend of £8.6million last year, despite her firm’s failure to meet Government targets on finding jobs for the unemployed.
A4e last night insisted that there was ‘no place for fraud’ at the company. It said the second police inquiry involved a subcontractor on one of the back-to-work contracts it manages, and did not involve any A4e staff. But the revelation came hours after it emerged that Thames Valley had arrested four former A4e staff on suspicion of defrauding the taxpayer.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1nBOJ7lOl

Exit the back to work tsar: After two weeks of damning Mail revelations, she quits -
so how can her firm STILL win a new £15m government deal
• Emma Harrison says she stepped down to avoid becoming a 'distraction'
• Spokesman for David Cameron says he 'respected' the decision
By Jason Groves
Last updated at 11:31 PM on 23rd February 2012
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1nH07DoYf

Curryking
25th February 2012 - 16:17
I've worked at a local jobcentre sending ET's & YTS's on unpaid work experience & employers will exploit them for cheap labour.I've seen it first hand.1 trick is to tell the 'trainee' there maybe a job at the end of it & if they work hard they may be taken on.In reality there isn't a job at the end, the employer uses any excuse they want & get another one to take their place & tell them the same

25 February 2012 Last updated at 08:17
Burger King said it withdrew from the scheme following "recent concerns expressed by the public"
Fast-food chain Burger King has become the latest firm to pull out of the government's controversial work experience scheme for jobless people.
It said it had registered to take on youngsters at its Slough headquarters but withdrew due to "public concerns".
Critics say the project is a form of "slave labour" because people work for nothing, while keeping their benefits.
The government said those campaigning against it should think carefully about the consequences of their actions.
Burger King said it registered for the voluntary Get Britain Working programme six weeks ago, but had not recruited anyone since.
"Given the recent concerns expressed by the public we have decided to no longer have any involvement in the programme," it said in a statement.
'Some commitment'
Participants continue to receive jobseeker's allowance (JSA) and may receive a contribution to travel or childcare costs.
But anyone who cuts a placement short after more than a week may have their benefits stopped for two weeks.
“It's not slave labour or anything like that”
George Eustice Conservative MP
Tesco has offered to pay people on the scheme and asked ministers to remove the threat of benefit sanctions.
Rival supermarket Sainsbury's said the small number of its stores that took part in the scheme had since ceased participation, as it was not company policy.
Fashion chain Matalan said it had suspended its involvement pending a review and book seller Waterstones and electrical retailer Maplin have already left.
But Employment Minister Chris Grayling defended the scheme, saying half of those who joined had found a job, often with the company that placed them on work experience.
"All of the evidence we can see is that this does better than simply leaving people on JSA, it actually helps more young people get into work.
"I don't accept that the scale of the campaign is very large, it's a small number of activists who are deliberately targeting these companies and trying to destabilise them," he said.
Conservative MP George Eustice said companies considering leaving the scheme should not bow to public pressure.
"The truth is that the first step to getting a job and getting back into the jobs market is having some work experience and learning to work and turning up for work on time and being part of a relied on team," he said.
"And so I think this scheme's incredibly important. It's only for a few weeks. It's not slave labour or anything like that and I think that if it's to work... you do need them to show some commitment."
The programme is aimed at 16- to 24-year-olds unemployed for more than three months, but less than nine.
Participants have an unpaid placement for two to eight weeks, working 25 to 30 hours a week.

Now work tsar's staff probed over vouchers meant to buy interview suits for jobless
By Russell Myers and George Arbuthnott
Last updated at 12:07 AM on 26th February 2012
The company owned by David Cameron’s former ‘back-to-work’ tsar is at the centre of a new fraud probe.
Detectives are investigating the alleged misuse of thousands of pounds’ worth of Government vouchers meant to help the jobless back into work.
Officers from Thames Valley Police’s Economic Crime Unit are examining claims that staff at employment firm A4e used the vouchers to boost their annual salaries instead of handing them to the unemployed clients they were supposed to be helping.
Staff at A4e – the firm built up by multi-millionaire Emma Harrison – are believed to have stolen the vouchers and exchanged them for goods in high street stores. The widening of the inquiry comes as a male A4e employee was interviewed under caution by Thames Valley detectives.
The man, who attended a police station by appointment yesterday afternoon, is the second staff member to be interviewed since the fraud inquiry was revealed in last week’s Mail on Sunday. Four former employees arrested last month remain on bail until March.
Mrs Harrison quit as chairman of A4e, which has received Government contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds, on Friday amid allegations taxpayers’ money was claimed for getting unemployed people into jobs that lasted as little as one day. She had earlier resigned from her Government role.
The vouchers, available in £10, £20 and £50 denominations, are meant to enable jobseekers to buy smart clothes and stationery to make themselves presentable at job interviews.
They are redeemable in stores and supermarkets, including Marks & Spencer, Primark, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
The exact value of the alleged fraud is unknown, but sources indicate it is in the region of ‘tens of thousands of pounds’.
A police source said: ‘Detectives are examining the various ways in which these vouchers were used. There are suggestions that some were given out as bonuses for getting unemployed clients into jobs and there are suspicions that some members of staff may have helped themselves to the vouchers without consent.
‘If this proves to be correct, there could be more arrests and further charges.’
Until now, it was believed the inquiry related solely to A4e’s Slough headquarters after officers met managers for four hours on Friday, February 17, demanding that staff hand over documents and computer files dating back two years.
But a source has confirmed that the four staff members arrested last month worked in the Thames Valley region. This means that they may have worked at A4e branches in Banbury, Bracknell, Oxford, Reading or Staines.
One of those arrested was Julie Grimes, 49. Ms Grimes left her junior role as a ‘client adviser’ at the firm’s Slough branch in November 2010 after an internal investigation revealed she was suspected of falsifying company documents, which were supposed to provide a record of clients who had been placed in full-time work.
It is alleged that she claimed clients had found full-time work when in reality some of the positions lasted only a day. This would have allowed A4e to claim a bonus of up to £2,000 for each ‘successful’ placement, with Ms Grimes receiving £50.
Ms Grimes was arrested on January 18 on suspicion of fraud. Two men, aged 41 and 35, and a 28-year-old woman were also arrested.
A whistleblower who contacted The Mail on Sunday claimed senior management ordered staff to chase targets ‘by any means possible’.
The source, who worked for the firm during the period of the alleged wrongdoing in 2010, said: ‘The four people who have been arrested were just following orders due to the immense pressure from the people upstairs. It was no secret what was happening and the problem just continued to get worse until it was too late.’
Those arrested all worked on the ‘Inspire to Aspire’ programme under the Welfare to Work scheme devised under Labour to help unemployed people into education, training or employment.
A4e has appointed City law firm White & Case to conduct an independent audit of its controls and procedures.
Mrs Harrison shares a £7 million mansion in Derbyshire with her husband Jim, their four children and 11 close friends and their six children in an arrangement she has dubbed a ‘posh commune’.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that she was paid an £8.6 million dividend after A4e’s turnover rose to £234 million.
Last night, the company refused to comment on the new allegations, despite earlier denying any fraud relating to Government vouchers. A company spokesman said: ‘We have made inquiries regarding the vouchers you mentioned and can find no trace of any suggestion of wrongdoing or complaint.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1nT8ultJX

Out-of-work tsar made £1.7m renting out her stately home... to her own taxpayer-funded firm
By Russell Myers, George Arbuthnott and David Baker
Last updated at 10:38 AM on 26th February 2012
Former 'family champion' Emma Harrison who quit amid fraud allegations has denied any wrongdoing over reports she received £1.7 million from leasing out her family stately home to her beleaguered welfare-to-work business.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1nVxbUgD8

Ministers were told of fraud claims a month BEFORE back-to-work tsar got job
By Daniel Martin and Rebecca Evans
Last updated at 1:39 AM on 27th February 2012
Iain Duncan Smith’s department was told about fraud allegations at Emma Harrison’s company a month before she was appointed as back-to-work tsar by David Cameron.
Her firm, A4e, informed the Department for Work and Pensions within 48 hours of hearing about the claims in November 2010.
Yet despite this, the Prime Minister appointed the multi-millionairess ‘families champion’ that December.
And a few months later, the DWP awarded the firm five contracts worth more than £400million to run Work Programme schemes up and down the country.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1nZ67kokq

9 March 2012 Last updated at 14:27
A4e: Department for Work and Pensions probes fraud claims
An investigation into an allegation of attempted fraud against welfare to work company A4e has been launched by the Department for Work and Pensions.
It said it had been made aware of an allegation of attempted fraud in relation to a contract with the firm.
Police are already investigating claims of irregularities at the company.
The company, which had launched an internal audit, said it took any allegations of fraudulent or illegal activity extremely seriously.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17310557

Despite a string of fraud probes A4e gets two new state contracts worth up to £30m
By Jason Groves
PUBLISHED: 23:53, 13 March 2012 | UPDATED: 00:13, 14 March 2012
Forced to quit: David Cameron's former 'back-to-work' tsar Emma Harrison
The embattled firm owned by David Cameron's former 'back-to-work' tsar Emma Harrison has been handed two new state contracts worth up to £30million.
The Skills Funding Agency quango last night confirmed that A4e has been appointed to run prison education programmes in London and the east of England, even though it is facing a string of fraud accusations.
The decision came despite an announcement by the Department for Work and Pensions last week that it has launched an inquiry into ten welfare-to-work contracts operated by A4e.
The DWP warned it would cancel all of its contracts if it uncovered evidence of systemic fraud.
The firm, owned by Mrs Harrison, the Prime Minister's former adviser on troubled families, is already facing investigation by the police. The Serious Fraud Office has also faced calls to look into the claims.
Yesterday's decision by the SFA, which is part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, provoked anger.
Margaret Hodge, chairman of the powerful Commons public accounts committee, said it was 'astounding' that A4e was being handed major contracts when its conduct was being investigated by both the police and Government officials.
'I find it astounding that, at a time when one Government department is investigating a company for systemic failures, another department is awarding the same company new contracts,' she added. 'You couldn't make it up.'
The new contracts involve providing basic education to prisoners in area such as maths and English, and helping prepare them to find jobs on release. The London contract is worth about £15million.
The SFA declined to comment on the value of the east of England contract, but it is thought to be worth a similar amount. Other contracts were mostly awarded to further education colleges.
One rival bidder said: 'It seems deeply ironic that offenders are to be given lessons in getting back on the straight and narrow by a firm that is being investigated for fraud.'
A4e's entire £180million UK turnover comes from state contracts. The firm has faced a storm of criticism since the Mail revealed that Mrs Harrison paid herself an £8.6million dividend last year – despite the firm's failure to hit Government targets for finding jobs for the unemployed.
The revelation prompted a string of whistleblowers to come forward with allegations of fraud at the company, which is one of five main contractors on the Government's £5billion Work Programme. Mrs Harrison resigned from her role advising the Prime Minister and quit her post as A4e's chairman, although she retains ownership of 85 per cent of the firm's shares.
A4e insists it has a 'zero tolerance' approach to fraud. The firm has appointed lawyers to carry out an internal audit of its activities to reassure ministers that there is no evidence of systemic fraud.
Meanwhile, Labour stepped up pressure on the Government over its links to A4e. In a written statement to MPs, the Employment Minister Chris Grayling acknowledged the DWP was aware of fraud allegations at the time that A4e was given hundreds of millions of pounds.
The claims are the subject of an inquiry by Thames Valley Police.
Mr Grayling told MPs that officials were made aware of the allegations in February last year, although they did not inform ministers until the autumn. In the intervening months A4e was handed five Work Programme contracts.
Liam Byrne, Labour's work and pensions spokesman, said: 'This is an astounding failure of ministerial oversight. We need an urgent explanation of exactly what reassurances ministers sought before signing off on the A4e deals.'
The Skills Funding Agency said: 'The Agency continues to receive assurances from A4e to ensure public funding is used appropriately both for current contracting arrangements or future contracts.'
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