The Kickstart scheme is aimed at helping unemployed young people into work. The new scheme will see hundreds of thousands of state-funded jobs created for 16-to-24-year-olds who are currently claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. Those who sign up can start in the autumn and there is no cap on the number of people who can sign up to the scheme.
The Kickstart scheme will see Government funding cover 100 per cent of the minimum wage for 25 hours a week in the scheme, which will be open to all employers across Britain, with employers also able to top up wages.
Employers who take part will need to provide training and support for people to find a permanent job. If employers meet those conditions, the Government will pay young people’s wages for six months, plus an amount to cover overheads.
Applications for the scheme are expected to open next month, with more information to follow in due course. Companies who take part in the scheme will have to prove that the jobs they are making available to applicants are new, are not replacing any already existing jobs and are ‘above and beyond any jobs they were expecting to create’.
For more information on the scheme, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-plan-for-jobs-documents/a-plan-for-jobs-2020
