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The government’s £2 billion Kickstart Scheme has just been launched to create new six-month job placements for young people who are currently on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.
Government 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.
Funding is available following a successful application process. Applications must be for a minimum of 30 job placements. If your business is unable to offer this many job placements,you can partner with other organisations in order to reach the minimum number, and if you do decide to apply on behalf of a group of employers, you can get £300 of funding to support with the associated administrative costs of bringing together these employers.
Any organisation, regardless of size, can apply for funding from the Kickstart Scheme, but the job placements created with that funding must be new jobs. They must not replace existing or planned vacancies or cause existing employees or contractors to lose or reduce their employment.
The roles funded through the Kickstart Scheme for must be:
- a minimum of 25 hours per week, for six months
- paid at least the National Minimum Wage for their age group
- should not require people to undertake extensive training before they begin the job placement
The Kickstart Scheme is not an apprenticeship, but participants may move on to an apprenticeship at any time during, or after their job placement. The job placements should support the participants to develop the skills and experience they need to find work after completing the scheme.
More information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-can-apply-for-a-grant-through-the-kickstart-scheme#how
If the Kickstart Scheme is not appropriate for your business then you may wish to consider taking on apprentices, and applying for the incentive payments that the government has set up for organisations who do so between 1 August 2020 and 31 January 2021. Employers will receive £2,000 for each apprentice aged 16 to 24 and £1,500 for each apprentice aged 25 and over. In both cases the apprenticeship must last for at least a year, and you will need to create an apprenticeship account on the gov.uk website if you don’t have one already. The new payments aren’t linked to the Apprenticeship Levy, and the payments can be spent on anything to support your organisation’s costs.
More details here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/incentive-payments-for-hiring-a-new-apprentice
Scrutton Bland have assisted many businesses in our region to apply for grants and loans. Contact us on 0330 058 6559 or email us if you would like to talk to one of our business advisers.
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