Kickstart Scheme makes funding available to create job placements

The UK government recently announced that it has created the Kickstart Scheme to provide funding to employers to create new 6-month job placements for young people who are currently on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.  £2 billion has been allocated for funding for this scheme which is available to all UK businesses.

Funding is available to reimburse employers for 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for a 25 hour a week 6-month placement including associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum automatic enrolment pension contributions. There is also up to £1,500 of funding available for each job placement to help towards support, training and other costs.

If you are an employer that is able to create 30 or more job placements you can apply directly to the government for funding. If you are an employer interested in creating just a few placements (or even just one) you will need a third party organisation to apply on your behalf. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) are currently offering the opportunity for small and mircobusinesses to apply for funding via their website. (your company doesn't need to be an FSB member to apply for funding).