Cameron's 'Family Champion' quits (From Enfield Independent)

Cameron's 'Family Champion' quits

5:52pm Thursday 23rd February 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

The boss of a welfare-to-work firm at the centre of police investigations over alleged fraud has quit as the Prime Minister's "Family Champion", she announced.

Emma Harrison said she did not want the probe, which has seen four ex-members of A4e staff arrested, to distract from the Government's efforts to help vulnerable families.

But her departure from the unpaid role did nothing to ease pressure from the head of a Commons public spending watchdog for A4e's Government contracts to be suspended.

In a statement, Ms Harrison, personally appointed by David Cameron in December 2010 to lead efforts to get hundreds of households into employment, said she had asked to step aside. "I do not want the current media environment to distract from the very important work with troubled families," she said amid the ongoing controversy surrounding her business. "I remain passionate about helping troubled families and I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute in an area where I have been active for many years."

Downing Street said: "We respect her decision and thank her for the contribution she has made." There were no plans at present to appoint anyone else to take over the role, a spokeswoman said .

The arrests, made in January, were confirmed on Tuesday following a visit by Thames Valley Police to the firm's headquarters in Slough late last week. Two women aged 28 and 49, and two men, aged 35 and 41, are on police bail until mid-March.

A4e said on Wednesday that the investigation was one of two outstanding cases out of nine it had referred to the Department for Work and Pensions following internal investigations. The other concerned a subcontractor, it said.

A4e has been under fire for paying £11 million in dividends last year, 87% to Ms Harrison, despite all its £160-£180 million UK turnover resulting from Government welfare contracts. Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Commons public accounts committee, has questioned why the firm continued to get contracts despite a "dismal" past record and called for a suspension.

Asked if the controversy surrounding A4e suggested Mr Cameron had made an error of judgment in appointing Ms Harrison, Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: "We treat anybody - organisation, individual - in this country as innocent until proven guilty. I think it is important that we wait and see what happens at the end of the police investigation before we form any judgments."

Despite the controversy and demands for existing work to be halted, A4e has been named as the preferred bidder for a £15 million contract with the Skills Funding Agency to provide education to prisoners in London and work advice on release, it was reported by the Daily Mail. An A4e spokeswoman said: "All government contracts are subject to an open and transparent tendering process, and these contracts were no exception to that."