The kickstart scheme

WHAT IS THE KICKSTART SCHEME?

The Kickstart scheme is an idea that the UK government put forward in September 2020, the idea is to help 16 to 24 year olds, who are on universal credit and at risk of long-term employment, to gain relevant work experience and employability support to help them get into long-term work as soon as possible. An initial £2 billion has been provided for this scheme, and there will not be a cap on the number of places available, this £2 billion is intended to provide funding for over 250,000 Kickstart jobs.

The scheme runs until December 2021 at present but it is expected that the scheme will be extended beyond that date due to the significant take up so far.

The most recent statistics from 4th February (https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/res earch-briefings/cbp-8965/) show that since the kickstart scheme was launched over 100,000 job placements had been approved and over 2,000 young people had started jobs.

As well as SMEs a number of large companies have taken part in the kickstart scheme, companies such as Amey who have created 60 vacancies and Marks and Spencer's have created 360 kickstart vacancies. Excitingly for some lucky Kickstart employees, our very own local premiership rugby team, Gloucester, have also decided to take part in the Kickstart scheme and they have a number of vacancies for 16 to 24 year olds to come and join them in various roles.

What does the Kickstart Scheme cost?

Each Kickstart placement lasts 6 months and the DWP will fund the Kickstart employee’s salary for 25 hours per week at the appropriate minimum wage for their age. Employers can choose to top up the pay and the hours themselves if they wish but it is not a requirement to provide any more than 25 hours work per week.

The employers have a responsibility to provide employability training to their Kickstart employees which is funded from the £1,500 grant provided by the government to each Kickstart employer. As well as training, the grant is also expected to cover the cost of equipment, uniforms, management time, HR costs and other costs associated with taking on your new Kickstarter. The Job Guru provides a full package of training and support services that have been approved for use by companies taking part in the Kickstart Scheme, (for more information please get in touch by email or visit www.thejobguru.co.uk/kickstart-scheme).

Taking on a Kickstart Employee should be cost neutral at the very least and should provide a benefit to the business through having an extra pair of hands working for the business at no additional cost.

Teething troubles

Unfortunately, due to the unprecedented number of applications the DWP have struggled to efficiently manage the process which has left employers disillusioned with the Kickstart scheme. However, it was to be expected that they would be teething troubles with something like this scheme, especially as the Kickstart scheme is a completely new idea, it was created at short notice and at a time when resources were limited anyway. These teething problems are being rectified and the process is running much more smoothly and more quickly, employers are already appreciating the benefits of the Kickstart scheme even more and the Kickstart employees are getting the benefits of the experience, working and getting employability training to help them stay off benefits and in long term work.

Changes have been made to the Kickstart scheme already, at the start of February the government removed the limit of a minimum of 30 kickstart placements per application which forced small businesses to group together or to use gateway organisations to put an application in. Now employers can submit an application directly themselves for one or more vacancies this is a much simplified process from an employer’s point of view, they don't need to go through a third party Gateway, the grant funding is paid directly to themselves and they have more control and more awareness about what is happening. It will be interesting to see what further changes will be made over the next few months because the scheme certainly has a lot of potential benefits for both employers and for young people who are claiming universal credit and want to make sure that they can get back into long-term work.

More support is now available to Employers wishing to take part in the Kickstart scheme, for example to make it easier to apply to take part in the Kickstart scheme the DWP have created a page on their website with tips on completing the application successfully https://bit.ly/3sEUep6.

Companies such as The Job Guru (www.thejobguru.co.ukkickstart-scheme) are providing additional support with webinars providing information about the scheme, helping with the application process and providing HR support and Employability training that is required under the scheme.

For more information about the scheme please join our next webinar www.thejobguru.eventbrite.co.uk, or you can learn more by: visiting www.thejobguru.co.uk/kickstart-scheme or getting in touch at kickstart@thejobguru.co.uk