GOV.UK Kickstart Scheme Details: 9th September
Kickstart Scheme – Are You Interested?
A number of businesses have been in touch to find out how we may be able to support the ‘Kickstart’ scheme recently announced by the government. Details can be found here.
The aim of the Kickstart Scheme is to create new 6-month job placements for young people who are currently on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. The job placements should support the participants (young people aged 16-24) to develop the skills and experience they need to find work after completing the scheme.
Funding is available for 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, plus associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions. There is also £1,500 per job placement available for setup costs, support and training.
However, critically applications must be for a minimum of 30 job placements. Given most of our members who are interested would not be offering 30 job placements, the government has directed interested businesses to:
- join a group of other employers, nominating a representative for the group to submit the application
- register their interest with existing representatives, such as local authorities, chambers of commerce or trade bodies
The idea is that the ‘representative organisation’ will check that your job placements are eligible for the Kickstart Scheme, and submit the application for funding on your behalf.
We are in contact with local partners who are supporting this, however, to support these discussions we are interested in collating data on how many BID Leamington members would be interested in recruiting and training young people (aged 16-24) via this scheme?
If interested, please read the eligibility criteria, and let us know via info@bidleamington2022.mystagingwebsite.com:
- How many young people would you be interested in taking on (minimum 6 months)?
- What the job description / job role would be (a summary is fine for now)?
- If you can offer the required training and support?
Please note: in supplying this information we will be sharing it with the Chamber of Commerce. You can also contact the Chamber of Commerce and register for this scheme directly by clicking here.
The Department of Work & Pensions assessment process itself may take up to 1 month, once the application is submitted – and an application must have a minimum of 30 job placements, including relevant company, job and training / support details to apply, so this is unlikely to be a quick process. Also once approved, recruitment will be via a Jobcentre Plus work coach who will refer candidates. Finally, any new jobs must not replace existing or planned vacancies, or cause existing employees to lose their jobs.
Best wishes and we look forward to seeing you out and about,
Steph & Alison
