James met with West Norfolk for Jobs to talk about how to maximise take up of Kickstart, the new government scheme that funds six-month job placements for young people aged 16-24.
West Norfolk for Jobs strategic board is made up of DWP and the local JobCentre Plus team, local employers, the College of West Anglia, local Chamber of Commerce representatives, the borough council, and others. The board reviewed how to promote the scheme to employers in West Norfolk and consider approaches to the Gateway process for companies applying to take on fewer than 30 placements.
Speaking after the meeting James said -
"I wanted to bring West Norfolk for Jobs together to see how we can encourage employers to take part in the Kickstart scheme and make it as easy as possible to do so.
The opportunity you give a young person could be the beginning of a new chapter in their lives, and provide vital work experience at a very challenging time."
Are you a local employer?
Do you have the ability to give a fully-funded employment opportunity to a local young person?
Could you help a young person to learn basic skills, such as attendance, timekeeping and teamwork?
HOW TO APPLY
- Any organisation, regardless of size, can apply for funding online.
- If your organisation is creating more than 30 job placements as part of the Kickstart Scheme, you can submit your application online directly.
- If your organisation is creating fewer than 30 job placements, you cannot apply directly. You must find someone to apply on your behalf known as a ‘Kickstart gateway’. These include Chambers of Commerce, Local Authorities, councils, and charities like the Prince’s Trust.
- A list of existing Kickstart Gateways in East of England can be found here and includes:
- Norfolk Chambers of Commerce
- Norfolk County Council
- The last placements will start in December 2021 with the scheme ending in Summer 2022.
FUNDING
- Covers 100% of the National Minimum Wage up to 25 hours per week, plus NI contributions and employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions.
- There is also £1500 per job placement available for setup costs, support and training.
- If you are applying on behalf of a group of employers, you can get £300 of funding for each job placement to support with the associated administrative costs of bringing together these employers.
ROLES
You need to have a role that is specially created and additional to your existing organisation. You will need to tell us how you will support the young person and help them prepare for future work. I
- The job placements created with Kickstart funding must be new jobs. Applicants must be able to demonstrate that the new roles do not:
- replace existing or planned vacancies
- cause existing employees or contractors to lose or reduce their employment
- The roles you are applying for must be:
- a minimum of 25 hours per week, and last for 6 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
- Once a job placement is created, it can be taken up by a second person once the first successful applicant has completed their 6-month term.
NEXT STEPS
- If your application meets the requirements of the scheme, you will receive a letter with a grant agreement. This agreement will include what your company has agreed to provide, and how much funding you will receive from the Kickstart Scheme. Your jobs will be advertised within the DWP network and our Job Centre Plus Work Coaches will try to match young people eligible for Kickstart roles to your organisation. DWP will refer people to you for interview. While you may want to advertise the role directly, funding will only be provided for job recruits referred to the employer by DWP.
- Candidates will apply for the job placements and you can choose who to employ.
- You will only obtain funding if you appoint a young person that we have introduced.
Find out more online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/kickstart-scheme
Kickstart Gateways are listed online on the Kickstart website: www.gov.uk/kickstart
