Action Updates
On Thursday 1st March we sent an email to Andrew Dutton at A4e.
by Reply received from Andrew Dutton on 6th March - 20:28 on 06 March 2012
On Thursday 1st March we sent an email to Andrew Dutton at A4e. A copy of the original email can be seen in Thursdays Actions or can be downloaded as a Word Doc
Update: We have prepared a new email that you can use to follow up on this reply. Click Here
Thank you for your email, and for taking the time to outline your concerns. I hope my response goes some way to answering the questions you raise.
With regards to ‘Workfare’, this isn’t a scheme which runs in the UK. However, I assume you are referring to the Government’s Mandatory Work Activity (MWA), which is delivered through Job Centre Plus by a range of welfare to work organisations in the Third, Public and Private sectors, including A4e.
Mandatory Work Activity
A4e delivers only two MWA contracts, one in the South East of England and one as a sub-contract in Wales. In both we are delivering valuable work experience placements for people who need support moving into work – in many instances, having been out of employment for a long period of time. These work placements are with a range of community organisations, so benefit the community as well as the individual.
We believe in and actively support the Government’s guidance that these work experience placements delivered through MWA must provide benefit to the local community as well as to the individual. I have seen, first hand, how this work experience can directly change a person’s life for the better, and be a key factor in helping people move into sustainable work. They are not in any way ‘exploitative’ as you suggest and those on the programme keep any benefit entitlement.
Work Programme
The work experience we deliver through MWA is separate to the Work Programme. WP is the Government’s new welfare to work programme where people who are long-term unemployed are referred from Job Centre Plus to providers across the country, including A4e. We deliver a range of tailored programmes to support them – for some people, this will include CV workshops, confidence building, IT skills and work experience or work placements. Everything we undertake is in line with the needs and expectations of the individuals we help and again I have seen first-hand the positive impact this experience has had on individuals, many of whom are willing to share their stories.
A4e
A4e has helped tens of thousands of people into long-term work and outperformed the market average in meeting performance targets on: New Deal for Disabled People; Pathways to Work; and Flexible New Deal in each of the geographical regions in which we operated with the exception of London.
We are currently supporting one person into work every seven minutes.
The Public Accounts Committee recently raised questions about A4e’s performance under the old Pathways to Work scheme operated by the Labour government. They also cited incorrect figures, which related to another provider. The facts are: A4e secured jobs for 24.2% of those it supported on Pathways to Work, exceeding the industry average of 23%, and our performance rose to 28% in the last two years of the contract. Moreover, no provider met the targets set.
The Work Programme is materially different from previous programmes, in that it operates wholly as a Payment by Results contract - simply put, as a provider, we don’t get paid if we don’t succeed in helping someone into work and then supporting them in work for up to 2 years. This provides better value for money for the taxpayer.
For every £1 spent by the Government on our Work Programme services, we deliver back £1.95 in revenue to the taxpayer.
Finally you refer to ‘current fraud investigations’. Just to clarify, there is one current investigation into ‘allegations’ of fraud against 4 former members of A4e staff. These individuals have not been tried or convicted. Any instance of wrong-doing is one too many. We have a zero tolerance approach to such activity, and in fact these cases were brought to light by our whistle-blowing policy and internal processes. In our 20 year history we have had one case of fraud where one former member of staff has been tried and convicted. To put this in perspective, we have a workforce of over 3,500 people operating out of 200 offices in the UK. As an industry we are also closely regulated, so I would have to disagree with your suggestion that schemes we operate are open to abuse.
I hope my email goes some way toward answering your questions.
Kind regards,
Andrew Dutton
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"We are currently supporting one person into work every seven minutes."
This claim has now been removed from the a4greed site following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority