Grayling faces sleaze accusations

Reprinted below is an article first published on Liberal Conspiracy. It is reprinted in full.

Labour MP John Robertson has today written to David Cameron and the Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office – Sir Gus O’Donnell – concerning potentially seven breaches of the Ministerial Code by minister Chris Grayling MP over awarding of new contracts.

There is concern over his connections with one of the companies that was awarded the largest amount of contracts at the expense of a local Glasgow charity.

Employment minister Chris Grayling MP announced this month which firms were to get contracts to help the unemployed to find work.

The biggest winner of contracts was Deloitte Ingeus, who received a maximum seven of the 40 contracts on offer in 18 regions of the UK. One of these regions was Glasgow, where Deloitte Ingeus was awarded at the expense of a local charity: the Wise Group.

Deloitte, which owns 50% of the Deloitte Ingeus company, donated in kind over £27,000 to the office of Christopher Graylings in October 2009, whilst he was Shadow Secretary of State for DWP.

At the time, Deloitte was calling for prime contracts to go to large companies instead of voluntary groups due to their ability to borrow more money.

In June last year The Wise Group was short-listed for a national award by thwe DWP that recognised the quality of service it employs to help get people into work.

Last week, Care UK landed a £53million NHS contract in the North East, the same company who’s senior executive John Nash donated £21,000 to Andrew Lansley’s office before the election.

The statement from John Robertson MP says:

"It does seem odd that the same year that Mr Grayling received these payment the company that went onto win the largest contract was calling for these very contracts to go to large companies like themselves. This could just be coincidence but Mr Grayling should have taken himself out of the whole process to avoid any chance that this could be a breach of Ministerial Code.

To be honest, this whole process stinks. If we were talking about another country where a private company was bidding for a government contract after making such large donations to the Minister responsible for making the decision we would be questioning the veracity of the outcome. I don’t see why Mr Grayling simply didn’t refer this part of his brief to another minister.

Unless there is an inquiry into why he didn’t defer this to another Ministerial colleague, and into the whole decision making process of how and who awarded these contracts and the level at which Mr Grayling’s office played in the formulation and development of this policy when he was in opposition, then the general public will believe that the Big Society really stands for the Big Stitch up.

It is clear that at some stage the ability of bidders to be judged on their ability shifted to not just price but also size of the bidding company, and I am concerned about the effect that the awarding of contracts for such an important scheme could have on my constituents and other colleagues in Glasgow if the prime contractor was not picked on its ability alone."

You can read the letter from John Robertson at Labourlist.

Further reflections on the Work programme

The much anticipated outcome of the Work Programme competition has now been revealed. 18 different Framework providers have been rewarded with contracts. Ingeus UK have been named as preferred bidder in 7 Contract Package Areas, with A4e winning 5, and Seetec, Avanta and Working Links winning 3 contracts each. The voluntary sector was represented on the preferred bidder’s list by CDG and Rehab Jobfit. The earlier suggestion that FND providers might do well in their existing territories didn’t hold true. More importantly, Grayling’s assertion last month that every bidder would have a bite of the cherry proved to be unfounded. In other words, he lied. Three FND contractors (Remploy, The Wise Group, and Skills Training UK) were not named as preferred bidders, whilst several other primes missed out in areas where they are currently delivering FND, but picked up wins in other parts of the country. Framework bidders who were not named as preferred bidders included Atos Origin, BBWR, Eaga, PeopleServe, and Shaw Trust. As successful bidders and their subcontractors try to digest the result, attention will inevitably turn to the ramifications these results presents, the working capital requirements, and how long term return on investment might be achieved in practice. One can only speculate how Ingeus will finance their activity in 7CPAs!! Dean James, Chief Executive of Ingeus UK, said: “Ingeus is committed to successful delivery of this critical programme, to help transform people’s lives through lasting employment and to make a positive impact on society and the economy.” Andrew Dutton, Chief Executive of A4e, said: “The results today build on our strong track record of partnership working: more than 52% of our existing welfare to work supply chain partners and 68% of our total proposed Work Programme supply chain are public or third sector organisations, many of them small and specialised. A4e is delighted this news allows us to build on these important relationships to deliver our core purpose – improving people’s lives.” Michelle Manson, Managing Director at BEST, said: “I am absolutely thrilled that BEST has secured a Work Programme contract in West Yorkshire, as one of the smallest providers on the Framework we are particularly pleased with the outcome!” Kirsty McHugh, Chief Executive of ERSA, said: “ERSA welcomes the government’s early announcement of the successful Work Programme bidders and congratulates all those who have been successful in their bids. This is the culmination of a rapid and demanding procurement process, which has tested the mettle of private and voluntary sector providers alike.” What none of them will answer is how many redundancies we can anticipate within the sector as Primes prepare for delivery of the new programme on 1st June, 2011.