further to last week's rightsnet news story

Independent inquiry to be launched after bulk of Pathways to Work contracts awarded to private companies

.... see today's guardian ...

'An Australian multinational group ... plans to become the biggest provider of 'welfare to work' programmes for up to a million disabled people in Britain under a resurgent Whitehall privatisation programme pursued by Peter Hain, the work and pensions secretary.

Unions and charities are furious that Mr Hain has handed over the lion's share of the first tranche of privatised services to the Ingeus group under a deal which will not include union recognition and will not safeguard jobs on the same conditions as in Whitehall.

WorkDirections UK won the contracts after legal advice that it did not need to apply TUPE conditions - designed to protect staff when an undertaking is transferred to a new employer - by providing Whitehall index-linked pensions, sick pay and holidays. Its rival bidders in the charity sector did factor in the cost of TUPE and are crying foul - blaming unclear advice from the DWP for the mess.

William Smith, chief executive of Ingeus Europe, who handled the WorkDirections UK bid, described the charities who had lost out as 'whingers'. 'Frankly it's their own fault,' he said. 'They should have bloody read the questions and answers documents.'

WorkDirections UK has now conceded that TUPE may apply in some cases, according to ThirdSector.co.uk -

'Further to The Australian company that won six of the first 16 Pathways to Work contracts awarded by the Department for Work and Pensions has gone back on its original assertion that the Tupe regulations, which govern the transfer of staff from existing providers, would not apply.'