The auditors state in a new report that the role of suppliers has become greater with the reform of AF.
Both documents and routines have been reviewed, but concrete checks have also been made on a selection of cases.
The result: incorrect payments of between five and eight percent, corresponding to between SEK 85 and 142 million per year.
Could be more
Possibly, the number in reality could be even higher. The internal auditors have discovered that there are often differences between how much time a job seeker is instructed to be employed, and how much time is actually reported.
Today it is not counted as an error, but if according to the auditors’ interpretation it would, that error alone would amount to a full 24 percent of all payments – or over SEK 400 million.
The AF management has replied to the auditors that several improvements have been made to the control systems. But the auditors reject the answer: “Overall, the internal audit assesses that the business’ proposed measures will not sufficiently address observed risks”.
Tove Elvelid, director of operations at Arbetsförmedlingen, writes to SVT that further reinforcements are being investigated. “The operations and the internal audit partly have different views on the choice of path and solutions, but share the view on the seriousness of the issue.”
Complicated systems
Several coach companies are today critical of the systems that AF provides to get their compensation, and the companies believe that you are in fact missing out on large sums to which you were actually entitled.
The system mess has even created a market for consultants who, for a commission, will find missed benefits.
After a whistle-blowing, the Arbetsförmedlingen identified a long series of incorrect payments to more than ten different coaching companies, all of which turned out to originate with such a consultant. See more about that case in the video above.