Warning on irregular payments to trainers

"IRREGULAR and erroneous" payments of public money to training providers for 1996/97 are likely to be double the Pounds 8.6 million identified last year, Department for Education and Employment permanent secretary Michael Bichard warned Training and Enterprise Council leaders this week. Education minister Kim Howells said it was "unacceptable" that the DFEE scrutiny unit has 20 cases of alleged fraud by training providers under contract to TECs on its books.