Back-to-work tsar's business has faced nine official investigations
Thursday 23 February 2012
Latest in Business News
On Facebook
The company belonging to the back-to-work tsar, Emma Harrison, which is being looked at by Thames Valley Police in connection with allegations of fraud by employees, has been investigated nine times since 2005 by the Department for Work and Pensions.
The revelation is the latest embarrassment for David Cameron who personally appointed Ms Harrison.
Ms Harrison's A4e private-sector employment consultancy has previously had to repay public funds five times since it was handed lucrative back-to-work government contracts. This followed allegations of irregularities in the numbers of people it claimed were successfully returned to work.
Out of the nine investigations, there are new allegations that four unearthed evidence that was not taken further through the criminal legal system after money was returned. Four other cases were dismissed as having no case to answer. One led to a criminal conviction.
Four new arrests relating to fraud allegations have been made by Thames Valley Police at the homes of 4Ae employees. Two women and two men were held on 18 January. All four have been bailed, with no charges brought. But the new police probe has brought calls by some MPs for the multi-million pound government contracts awarded to 4Ae to be suspended.
Margaret Hodge, chair of the Commons public accounts select committee, has claimed that the arrests and new figures for the way A4e operates, suggest a potential structural problem in the way the company is run.
She also called on the DWP to explain why the police were not brought in every time new evidence of irregularities were found. The department claims that on the occasions when money was paid back it was up to A4e to take the appropriate action against its employees.
A4e faced further criticism last night when it was claimed that the company forced some jobseekers to work for it unpaid for at least a month.
It was suggested the appointments could represent a conflict of interest.
The placements were revealed in a Freedom of Information answer from the Department of Work and Pensions which said that unemployed people were sent by A4e's Holloway office in North London to work at two more of its offices in the city.
The former Home Secretary, David Blunkett, who has been paid up to £30,000 a year for the last four years as an adviser to A4e, told The Independent earlier this week that the recent attacks on Ms Harrison's company were, "the same story as two years ago when the company took action themselves and informed the DWP rather than wait for any probe".
Criticism of Ms Harrison and her company has grown since it emerged that, although public-sector contracts dominate her business, she paid herself £8.6m last year.
The company is thought to be worth £300m.
- 1 Double trouble at JP Morgan: trader's losses could exceed $7bn
- 2 Brazil rocked by abortion for 9-year-old rape victim
- 3 News in pictures
- 4 In pictures: The bewildering face of China
- 5 Parents 'killed daughter by forcing bag into her mouth'
- 6 Ten adverts that shocked the world
- 7 Mark Zuckerberg loses friends on Wall Street as regulators probe $19bn slump
- 8 Christine Lagarde: Time is running out for Osborne's Plan A
- 9 Manal al-Sharif: 'They just messed with the wrong woman'
- 10 The Bain of Mitt Romney's life?
- 1 Double trouble at JP Morgan: trader's losses could exceed $7bn
- 2 Romain Amalfitano is latest French connection for Newcastle
- 3 Brazil rocked by abortion for 9-year-old rape victim
- 4 Portugal 'sells' Ronaldo to Spain in £160m deal on national debt
- 5 Tony Blair and George Bush's phone conversation a week before Iraq invasion 'must be released'
- 6 Forgotten Authors: No 8: William Sansom
- 7 Manal al-Sharif: 'They just messed with the wrong woman'
- 8 Tory MPs 'gagged' welfare-to-work whistleblowers
- 9 Coke reveals its secret: It may need to carry a cancer warning
- 10 French in uproar over oral sex anti-smoking posters
Experience the Heineken Hub
Get free wi-fi and exclusive i content while you enjoy a tasty pint of Heineken at participating pubs.
Can you imagine a career in teaching?
Be inspired to teach - let real teachers show you how rewarding the job can be.
Playing a game-changing role during the Games
Cisco is providing the solutions for London 2012's complex IT needs.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Day In a Page
Grace Dent
Mike Sheridan: Confessions of an Ofsted inspector
The Bain of Romney's life?



Comments