1991 to 2015 purchased by staffline group plc 1 & trading still headquarters sheffield united kingdom key people emma harrison chairman until 24 feb 2012 revenue 145m 2 number of employees 3 100 website www.peopleplus.co.uk peopleplus a trading name for a4e formerly known as action for employment is a for profit welfare to work company based in the united kingdom . the company began in sheffield in 1991 3 4 to provide redundant steelworkers with training so that they could find new jobs . 5 they now operate in five countries but retain a significant presence in the uk where they work with organisations in the public sector such as the department for work and pensions . in the wake of various controversies and criminal investigations mps fiona mactaggart and former secretary of state for work and pensions margaret hodge urged the uk government to suspend contracts with a4e . 6 7 in march 2012 following fraud allegations regarding an a4e contract the department for work and pensions began an independent audit of all its commercial relationships with a4e . 8 on 15 may 2012 employment minister chris grayling announced that the audits for the work programme the new enterprise allowance programme and mandatory work activity found no evidence of fraud in any of these contracts . however while the team found no evidence of fraud it identified weaknesses in a4e s internal controls on the mandatory work activity contract in the south east and that this contract with a4e had been terminated after deciding that continuing would pose too great a risk . 9 in march 2015 six former employees received jail sentences for forging files in a scam that was said to have cost taxpayers almost 300 000 . four received suspended sentences . in a telling aside judge angela morris said it was not for her to decide whether more senior managers should also be held to account . 10 contents 1 history 2 tv appearances 3 present operations 4 international 5 criticism from charities 6 loss of personal data 7 fraud investigations 7.1 hull 7.2 teesside 7.3 fraud investigations and jail sentences 7.4 liam byrne statement 8 payments to emma harrison 9 criticism from fiona mactaggart 10 allegations from former employees 11 references 12 external links history edit a4e logo used until 2015 a4e was a company started by emma harrison s father . it was originally a sheffield based training company putting unemployed steel workers through a getting back to work course . 11 emma harrison joined the company after graduating in engineering . after the labour party came to power in 1997 they introduced the back to work new deal service for those on jobseeker s allowance requiring claimants to attend vocational training or risk losing their benefit . in the mid 2000s the government withdrew funding from jobcentre plus vocational training programmes and redirected the funds to back to work agencies such as the sheffield based company a4e . a4e quickly became the largest provider of new deal services in the uk and had contracts for the new deal worth 80 million . 12 13 when the new deal was wound down in 2010 a4e was paid a share of 63 million in termination fees . 14 a4e was awarded a contract for the pathways to work scheme in 2008 14 with a target to get 30 per cent of participants into employment . in february 2012 the public accounts committee heard the success rate was 9 per cent . 15 committee chair margaret hodge questioned why a4e had been awarded new contracts to deliver the work programme despite this abysmal performance . conservative committee member richard bacon expressed similar concerns asking why a4e s dreadful performance in one of the immediate predecessor programmes had not been taken into account during tendering . 16 tv appearances edit in august 2009 a4e was featured in two episodes of benefit busters . chairman emma harrison also appeared on secret millionaire . 17 present operations edit according to the times a4e is a business consultancy that offers to make millions from the unemployed by treating them as a commodity to private and public companies . 18 a4e are bidding for several large additional contracts from the uk government . former secretary of state for work and pensions david blunkett an advocate of increased participation by firms like a4e in the welfare system while in government has faced criticism for accepting a trip to south africa from a4e in addition to earnings of between 25 000 and 30 000 as an adviser three years after leaving office . 19 in september 2011 a4e were awarded a 250 000 contract to advise the prime minister david cameron s office on future privatisations . it will advise on how to design welfare contracts with private firms and getting value for money in contracting out . 20 a4e has been hired by the cabinet office to advise on the rules governing four experimental schemes aimed at families with unemployed parents living in conservative led authorities . 20 on 23 february 2012 chairman emma harrison stepped down from her role as david cameron s personal adviser on problem families in the wake of her firm being investigated over allegations of multiple fraud . 21 the following day she stepped down as chairman of a4e amid growing pressure over the company s behaviour . 22 on 9 march 2012 the skills funding agency revealed a4e to be a preferred bidder for prison education contracts . 23 on 13 march the sfa confirmed it had awarded a4e two such contracts worth up to 30million . margaret hodge commented i find it astounding that at a time when one government department is investigating a company for systemic failures another department is awarding the same company new contracts . you couldn t make it up . 24 on 11 september 2012 a channel 4 investigation revealed that a4e had only found 4020 jobs that lasted over 3 months in the 10 months up to may 2012 for its 115 000 compulsory attendees at a cost to the taxpayer of 45 million . margaret hodge chairman of the public accounts committee said the performance was abysmal . 25 international edit a4e have international operations in australia paris france germany ireland israel operating as amin italy poland south africa and india . in australia they partner with spotjobs an online employment website to deliver education and training to qualified users . criticism from charities edit in 2008 refugee and asylum charities criticised a4e for asking them to work as its unpaid partners . farrukh husain director of the migrants resource centre accused a4e of gross exploitation of the voluntary sector . he further commented a4e must think the voluntary sector is naive to simply wish to sign up to a relationship that delivers little in return for voluntary organisations and fattens up the profits of a4e . maurice wren director of asylum aid expressed concern that a4e s actions could reduce the quality of bids for future home office contracts to help and support refugees this could get some organisations thinking if we are to have any chance of getting a contract we have to reduce our costs . this means a poorer service for a very vulnerable client group . 26 loss of personal data edit on 29 june 2010 a4e published a statement that an employee s laptop containing personal details of 24 269 people had been stolen . the employee s laptop was not encrypted and was not recovered . 27 in november 2010 a4e were fined 60 000 by the information commissioner s office for the loss of the laptop . commissioner christopher graham said that it ... warranted nothing less than a monetary penalty as thousands of people s privacy was potentially compromised by the company s failure to take the simple step of encrypting the data . 28 in november 2011 a4e were taken to task by a social security tribunal for halting the benefit payments of claimants who wished to be accompanied by representatives of their choice at meetings run by a4e . the report also states that members of a4e lied to the dwp in order to cut the benefits to claimants . 29 fraud investigations edit hull edit on 28 june 2009 the observer disclosed information regarding a fraud investigation into a4e which was instigated after the department for work and pensions uncovered discrepancies in its confirmation of employment forms discrepancies which centred upon the falsification of employers signatures by a number of recruiters . one recruiter also made a fraudulent deal with a local temp agency . 30 a4e s official statement read all the matters raised in the article are known to both a4e and the dwp and have been the subject of both an a4e investigation and a dwp led investigation . the a4e investigation revealed that whilst candidates had real job opportunities these jobs did not meet the funding criteria being less than 13 weeks and 16 hours a week in duration . these investigations have resulted in the departure of both individuals from the company and the ceasing of all activity with the employment agency concerned . 31 teesside edit another case of signature forgery emerged on 6 march 2012 . this took place while a4e was working for redcar and cleveland council to help disadvantaged young people into education training or employment . a council inquiry found that learners signatures had been forged to exaggerate the number of vulnerable people the project had reached . a4e was forced to withdraw from this part of the project . 32 middlesbrough south and east cleveland mp tom blenkinsop said there needs to be a full investigation into this case . this is public money here and this must be looked into to restore confidence into all regeneration projects carried out locally . 33 fraud investigations and jail sentences edit in january 2012 four former employees of a4e were arrested on suspicion of fraud dating back to 2010 . 34 the alleged fraud was uncovered by an internal investigation by a4e . the two women aged 28 and 49 and two men aged 35 and 41 were bailed until mid march . 34 on 22 february the guardian revealed that a4e had forced jobseekers to work unpaid in its own offices 35 had been investigated nine times by the department for work and pensions since 2005 and had been forced to repay public funds on five separate occasions after government investigations found irregularities . 36 emma harrison resigned as chairman of a4e on 24 february 2012 amid criticism of improper conflicts of interest regarding government contracts and allegations of routine utterly rife fraud from whistleblowers . 37 on 26 february 2012 thames valley police s economic crime unit was revealed to be investigating the alleged theft by a4e staff of tens of thousands of pounds worth of vouchers meant to help the unemployed back to work . 38 the labour mp fiona mactaggart who sits on the public accounts committee has stated my view is that this company has demonstrated that it is unfit to hold this kind of contract . 6 in relation to the work programme . on 9 march 2012 the department of work and pensions announced it had been made aware of an allegation of attempted fraud in relation to a mandatory work activity contract with a4e . it stated that it had begun an investigation into this allegation and also as a result of the allegation an independent audit of all our commercial relationships with a4e . 8 on 22 march 2012 the bbc s newsnight current affairs programme revealed that they had received a leaked document suggesting systemic fraud at the company . 39 the following day labour mp margaret hodge who chairs the commons public accounts committee called on the government to suspend its contracts with the jobs