Work Programme primes 'claiming payment for other agencies' work'

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Work Programme primes 'claiming payment for other agencies' work'6

Finance | Tania Mason | 6 Mar 2012

Some Work Programme prime contractors are referring clients to voluntary sector agencies without telling the agencies, and then claiming payment for helping the client find a job.

The practice was exposed by Bernadette Benn, chief executive of east London employment charity Barnabas Workshops, at yesterday's NCVO annual conference.

In the workshop on policy and politics, Benn queried why welfare-to-work schemes are not commissioned locally, as opposed to the national behemoth that is the Work Programme.

“If we are talking about localism, why isn’t employability support offered at a local level?” she said. “It’s local people, local jobs, local environments. Why is it still with prime contractors who don’t even know the area?”

She went on: “Unbeknown to us, primes are sending clients to us for us to provide a service, but we only find out later on. So we get them into work, or find a volunteer position or they attend our training, yet we don’t realise that they’re signed up to the Work Programme. The primes then claim the outcome and get the funding and we get nothing.

“Unfortunately now we’re upsetting people by saying to them ‘oh you’re on the Work Programme, we can no longer support you’, which is very sad because that’s not who we are,” she said.

James Allen, the NCVO’s policy manager, said the umbrella body was aware of the practice in different parts of the country but had so far been unable to convince any charity to go on the record and say that it was happening.

Benn told him she had already provided evidence of the practice to the local MP and the leader of the local council, and would forward it to the NCVO too.

Place a comment

Peter
30 Aug 2012

So it's not just us then! We only found out about it when a someone came in and told us they'd been asked to fill in a load of forms about how they had found a job - but refused to do it on the grounds that it was all thanks to us and not the people wanting the forms filled in.

[Reply]

Norfolk Farm Folk
6 Mar 2012

So are you saying that people taking part in the Work Programme are being excluded from help finding work because they have been either coerced or mandated to take part in these government schemes?

[Reply]

Carl Allen
6 Mar 2012

But is this potentially fraud?

[Reply]

Catherine Clark
Head of Communications, Marketing & Development
Royal School of Church Music
6 Mar 2012

3 parts profit motive added to 1 part trust the vendor (otherwise known as 'cutting red tape', right Mr Cameron?) = 100% guarantee of fraudulent activity. You'd think SOMEONE would have learned by now.

[Reply]

Marie
6 Mar 2012

Yet another example of how despicable the Work Programme providers really are. They are just out to get their hands on as much (taxpayers') money as possible- ***content removed for breach of community standards***

[Reply]

Bob
6 Mar 2012

The Work Programme - has there ever been such a fiasco in conception, strategy through to delivery as this initiative (although there's not much initiative to it)?

Not in my time anyway.

[Reply]

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