The Kickstart scheme is a £2 billion fund launched by the UK government to create job placements for 16 to 24 year olds who are on Universal Credit and are deemed to be at risk of long term unemployment.
The job placements created with Kickstart funding must be new jobs. They must not replace existing or planned vacancies and cannot cause existing employees, apprentices or contractors to lose or reduce their working hours.
You’ll get £1,500 funding per job placement. This is for setup costs and to support the young person develop their employability skills. If someone else helps you to do some of this for you, such as your Kickstart gateway, you’ll have to agree how you will share this money.
The job placements must be a minimum of 25 hours per week, for 6 months and pay at least the National Minimum Wage or the National Living Wage for the employee’s age group. They should require basic training only.
For each job placement you must help the young person become more employable. This could include:
- Looking for long-term work, including career advice and setting goals
- Support with curriculum vitae (CV) and interview preparations
- Developing their skills in the workplace
- The young person may be able to move to another employment scheme when they’ve finished their 6-month Kickstart Scheme job placement.
A Kickstart Scheme application must be for a minimum of 30 job placements. If a single employer cannot provide this many job placements, they can apply through and existing Kickstart gateway, which in the Perth & Kinross Local Authority area is Perthshire Chamber of Commerce.
To find out more about working with Perthshire Chamber of Commerce on this, please email [email protected].
Employers of all sizes can apply for funding which covers:
- 100% of the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours per week for a total of 6 months
- Associated employer National Insurance contributions
- Employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions
- Employers can spread the start date of the job placements up until the end of December 2021.
- Further funding is available for training and support so that young people on the scheme can get a job in the future.
Detailed guidance around the Kickstart Scheme can be accessed via the UK Government website.