A Greater Manchester woman claims a government-linked training company has 'forged her signature nine times' to falsely indicate she attended several of their courses.

The woman, who asked to stay anonymous, claims she was entered into an adult numeracy training programme called 'Multiply', which is a Department for Education initiative, despite never asking or agreeing to do so. The course was delivered by Dragon Football Academy Ltd (Dragon), registered on Bird Hall Lane in Cheadle Heath.

Dragon had been tasked with delivering Multiply, which is a free-to-take adult education numeracy qualification open to anyone over-19 without a maths GCSE, after the government department passed funding to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to run the courses on-the-ground. The GMCA then tasked Manchester-based social enterprise The Growth Company with sub-contracting out the delivery of Multiply contracts — with Dragon being one.

The Growth Company has now confirmed it 'voluntarily ended the contract' with Dragon in early July, but did not specify why it took the decision.

The woman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she complained to the Growth Company, GMCA, and Department for Education — alleging her signature was used on paperwork, claiming she had completed the Multiply course delivered by Dragon.

"In March, I got a letter from a company doing research for the Multiply programme, asking me to fill in a questionnaire," she explained. "[Dragon] had claimed against me for a maths proficiency training programme. The Department for Education did confirm to me they had signed paperwork saying I did three sessions' training at Dragon."

After this, the woman says she contacted the authorities for a Subject Access Request to reveal any data they held about her. She went on: "Data disclosures came back and there are 29 pages. There are nine forged signatures."

That led her to complain to the government, GMCA, and Growth Company about the situation. While the Department for Education did not investigate directly as it was not the organisation delivering the Multiply course in Greater Manchester, it's understood officials examined the allegations and worked with the GMCA to establish the next steps.

A spokesperson for the GMCA said they tasked The Growth Company with probing the case. They said: "We take all allegations of criminal activity very seriously and have fully supported our supplier, the Growth Company, to investigate these allegations against their contractor as the situation has evolved.

"We will continue to work closely with the Growth Company and the Department of Education to ensure that all appropriate action is taken."

A Growth Company spokesperson has now confirmed that Dragon's contract had been terminated. They said: "On April 20, 2024, we received a complaint in relation to the delivery of a Multiply course. This complaint was handled in line with our complaints procedure.

"Following a full investigation, we upheld the complaint as there was insufficient additional evidence from the relevant provider to confirm attendance of the complainant on the course. Due to the nature of the allegations, we also referred the matter to Action Fraud, in line with our processes.

"No funding has been claimed by The Growth Company or the relevant provider for the individual who made the complaint, and we voluntarily ended the contract with the provider on July 8, 2024. We take all complaints seriously and we have carried out our enquiries thoroughly to ensure a robust investigation in this matter."

When asked how much public money The Growth Company paid Dragon to deliver the contract, the spokesperson would not be drawn. However, they added: "We can confirm that the subcontractor received funding to deliver courses under the Multiply programme between June 2023 – March 2024. They have not been contracted to deliver any other programmes on behalf of The Growth Company."