The Ministry of Defence has appointed three QS firms to help protect it against potential fraud.

Knowles is the new addition to the MoD's roster for forensic QS services, which also includes Carillion and Pick Everard. The firms will investigate whether contractors working with the MoD have been honest and ethical.

John Wood, Knowles director, said he was pleased that the firm made it onto the roster and was looking forward to getting involved in investigations, some of which could result in criminal action.

"For me it's very early days so I don't know how much work there'll be, but the MoD has said they'll be keeping us busy," he said.

An MoD spokesperson said she was "fairly confident" that fraud is not common in MoD work but the body needed the QSs there to call on if something suspicious needed looking at.

"This is to pick up fraud," she said. "It's obviously a situation we couldn't tolerate, being a public sector body."

The total final value of the contracts is £753,000.

Source

QS News