The government have introduced a new Kickstart Scheme in Great Britain, a £2 billion fund to create hundreds of thousands of high quality 6-month work placements aimed at those aged 16-24 who are on Universal Credit and are deemed to be at risk of long-term unemployment.

Funding available for each job will cover 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, plus the associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions.

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.

Employers who take part will need to provide training and support for people to find a permanent job with applications for the scheme now open. 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’.

Kickstart will give employers the chance to take on a young person who otherwise might not have got into work and support them to develop, with the costs reimbursed by government, In return, it will be expected that employers will give young people a high quality job, including training and/or job search support, to boost their job prospects.

Article reproduced, courtesy of Centric HR

For more information on the Kickstart Scheme, how to apply and further advice please contact Centric HR  or call on 03333 660567 where their team of professionals can help and assist.