Monday 27 February 2012

At last, Newsnight - but nothing new

Well, the BBC finally got round to reporting on the A4e story, on Newsnight tonight.  But it was half-hearted, just pulling together what everybody else has reported - including using the whistle-blower Catherine who made the front page of the Independent.  She told her story briefly; and A4e had had time to come up with a refutation.  She was not told to work for one week without telling the Jobcentre, they say.  It was only one day, an unpaid trial which doesn't have to be notified to the Jobcentre.  This is what tends to happen.  A whistle-blower got it wrong / is not telling the truth / misunderstood what was said.  And what can Catherine do about that?  Margaret Hodge said that she had received an "astonishing" number of allegations and wants A4e's contracts to be suspended.  Paul Mason, who had started by describing the "pally" history between A4e and government, ended with a mention of the employment of David Blunkett and Jonty Oliff-Cooper.  So nothing new.  But the BBC may now feel that it's done its bit.

17 comments:

  1. I saw this too. Sadly it rehashed old news.

    If the BBC wants to do omething useful, why not do an in depth investigation on A4e, the W2W and the WP? Even then, I'm not sure how deep they'd be prpared to dig.

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  2. I am going to withdraw my permission for A4e to store and share my information. Its just not satisfactory all this, if an ordinary person was being investigated then they would be suspended from their duties immediately. How Can the government allow this to go on. These are peoples lives they are playing around with. Now I have a dilemma because I'm withdrawing my consent, should I sign anything at all when at the A4e or should I refuse to sign things. It just shakes you up and makes you worry all the time about things you are signing. You trust people to help you and the very people who you do trust are fraudsters.

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  3. I am 55 and I have been using A4E in Southampton. They have been referring the claimants aged over 50 to another company called Emplacement Solutions. It was arranged that I would have my first meeting with Emplacement Solutions on Friday 2nd March 2012.

    I have just opened a lerrer which informs me that Enplacement Solutions has ceased trading with effect from Weds 22 Feb 2012, with a view to going into liquidation according to the letter, and telling me to contact A4E.

    This Work Programme shambles seems to be unravelling at some speed, frankly. The young man at A4E who said he was my "advisor" also said that he has no knowledge of how to help someone of my age. This is not comforting news when A4E's allegedly specialist subcontractor has gone bust.

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    1. What is more pertinent is that they admitted they cannot help you given your age ..... very sad.

      PS I wish all they "aonymouses" would separate themselves adiin say a number to their User ID! It gets very confusing, well for me!

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  4. I urge anybody with bad experiences of A4e to send a confidential email to:

    amelia.gentleman@guardian.co.uk

    detailing their experiences. Amelia is currently researching A4e and will treat all emails with the utmost of confidence.

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    1. Other investigative journalists are also available!

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  5. historian
    keep up the good work!
    If I can locate anything pertinent I'll keep posting as anon - appreciate you allowing them to be shown!
    regards
    somebody who wants to show the world who A4e really are

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  6. Surely grounds for recording all conversations when dealing with the likes of A4e, then one has proof of statements made - I'm sure glad I did as I was accused of swearing at, and threating staff. Once the fact that conversations had been recorded was made known, the accusation was quickly withdrawn.

    During my time with A4e, a signature on a blank piece of paper was routinely demanded under threat of sanctions. To hear of possible fraud resulting from signed blank timesheets does not suprise me the slightest.

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  7. Have some thought for those that work for A4e they are innocent and now have employment worries if contracts are cancelled

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    1. Absolutely. The vast majority of A4e's staff are just trying to earn a living doing as good a job as they can. This blog has never targeted staff.

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  8. I feel it is the culture and management who need some investigation - if we are to get to the bottom of some serious fraud allegations.

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  9. The staff at A4E are not innocent if they know what is going on and sit idly by while it happens.I work for A4E and have felt for some time that they are not a good company to work for, they scrimp at the bottom end telling staff there is no money for things like paper and then they are creaming off vast amounts of public money at the top, if they ran a proper service noone would mind.I think the Government should look closely at who get the contracts and what they actually intend to spend the contract money on, all for Emma is the new name for A4E where i work!

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    1. I was told on induction day that A4E dont actually get paid unless the client gets a job???

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    2. They get paid a £400 "attachment fee" when you start. That's all unless and until you get a job.

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  10. I have written to Amelia at the Guardian but not had any response as yet, anyone know any other journalists as what I have goes back to 2003/04/05 and needs digging into now before records are destroyed so is pretty urgent! Thanks

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    1. Send me another comment with your email address, Ozvegas. I won't publish it, of course.

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  11. I have been with a4e for nearly a year now and have found the staff very helpful and informative.

    Anonymous

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Keep it clean, please. No abusive comments will be approved, so don't indulge in insults. If you wish to contact me, post a comment beginning with "not for publication".