Leak shows A4e managers knew of potential fraud in 2009

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2. Top story on the Telegraph website today

What I find interesting is that the allegations are spreading to another firm called Working Links

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9286323/Welfare-to-work-fraud-scandal.html

Written evidence submitted to Parliament by a former chief auditor at A4e shows how an “unethical culture” led to “systemic fraud” at the company, which holds major government contracts. When concerns were raised about wrongdoing with senior managers, little was done to address the widespread abuse of taxpayers’ money, the whistleblower alleged.

A document put to MPs also described serious problems at another welfare to work provider, Working Links, which runs three major contracts on the Coalition’s £5?billion jobs scheme and is part-owned by the Government.

The evidence was submitted by Eddie Hutchinson, the former head of audit at A4e, who attended a meeting of the Commons public accounts committee on Tuesday from which the public was excluded.

Both companies on Wednesday night denied any wrongdoing. The auditor’s evidence will leave the Government facing political questions over its employment programmes, since Mr Hutchinson suggests that many of the jobs the companies claim to have created are fictitious.