Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2019 to Question 254799, on Working Links, for what reasons Working Links Ministry of Justice Permitted Subcontractors are receiving payments and protections but Working Links Permitted Subcontractors for her Department are not.

The Department refers to the responses to 2 previous PQs (254799 and 257591) which addressed this question on 17^th May and 28^th May respectively. This answer confirms those responses.

The MOJ are making payments to a small number of Permitted Sub Contractors on the basis of a) the unique nature of their services (statutory services) and b) the structure of their current market in the context of the transformation announced on 16^th May 2019.

There is no defined term within DWP contracts for Permitted Subcontractors.

The Department considered the impact on stakeholders and sub-contractors, based on the Administrator’s statement of affairs at the point of Working Links going into administration, and has worked with both the Administrator and Fedcap, who have taken over a number of Working Links contracts, to minimise the impact on those supply chain partners owed monies by Working Links at the point of administration.

The Department has met all of its obligations in regard to the contracts, including payments, leading up to and as a consequence of the administration.