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A FORTUNE in taxpayers’ cash is being handed over to multinationals – for taking on staff they already employ.

The scandal at the heart of the UK government’s flagship back-to-work scheme can be revealed today as sources claim JobCentre staff are being told to get rid of the cash to meet budget targets.

Internal documents show the Government are paying the multinational firms a bonus for workers they already employ.

Sources say the cash – designed to help cut unemployment – is now handed to profitable firms to help the Department for Work and Pensions hit their targets.

The “wage incentive” of £2275 for each young worker hired is part of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s £1billion Youth Contract.

But figures seen by the Sunday Mail reveal the DWP have only been able to get 6500 people into jobs since the start of the year through the scheme.

Instead, Jobcentre Plus staff are being told to offer companies the bonuses for staff they have already taken on.

A source said: “This is the No1 back-to-work scheme in the country and we’ve been allocated money that we have to spend.

“In order to meet targets, we are hunting employers and saying to them, ‘Take our money, take our money’.

“Essentially, we are paying companies to employ people they have already taken on.

“Staff are under extreme pressure. We’re told it is a ministerial and political priority but the priorities are all wrong.

“There are people who are being driven to suicide because they can’t afford the bedroom tax and here we are paying firms for workers they have already taken on.”

The initial aim of the scheme was to get more than 160,000 unemployed 18 to 24-year-olds into work by helping firms with National Insurance contributions for employees.

But the situation has become so bad that employers are being asked to give lists of staff they have taken on.

Jobcentres have been asked to trawl through them to find workers for whom the firms are entitled a bonus.

The Sunday Mail has also seen emails from Jobcentre Plus staff to the DWP management, expressing concern payments are being made when they’re not required.

There are also fears staff time is being used up processing them.

When Clegg announced the scheme in November 2011, he said young people were demoralised at the lack of job opportunities

and that he wage incentive would provide hope to thousands of them.

Latest figures show just 6500 applications for wage incentive payments have been made since the start of the year, including around 600 in Scotland.

SNP MSP John Mason said: “Incentives for employers reportedly being misused by Jobcentre Plus highlights the failure of the UK benefits system.

“The DWP enforcing targets for the sake of it without improving the employment opportunities for the young unemployed people of Scotland is shameful and a waste of time, money and resources.”

The DWP said: “Wage incentives can help businesses cut the cost of taking on a young person. But they can only be issued where they played a part in the employer’s decision to select their candidate.”