A government scheme to introduce welfare-to-work programmes run by several different agencies could generate tension between them, according to Keith Faulkner, managing director of the government-backed welfare-to-work scheme Working Links.

The first new multi-agency contracts for employment zones, which provide recruitment services to disadvantaged areas, are to begin this month.

He said: “We are expected to work together but it’s a lot more complicated than that. We may be expected to take part in various discussion groups but there may be only one seat at the table, not three. This could lead to some problems.”

Faulkner added that he was surprised that so many agencies had won government contracts, given the potential competition from not-for-profit organisations.