Partner Article

How to benefit from the Kickstart programme whilst giving back to the community

New scheme provides funding to employers to create six-month job placements for 16 to 24 year olds

The government recently launched its 2bn Kickstart Scheme, an incentive for businesses who help at-risk young people get back into work. Originally proposed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in his July 2020 Summer Statement, the scheme aims to help young people on Universal Credit who have lost jobs and opportunities due to COVID-19 back to work.

The government is confident that the scheme will generate more than 350,000 new jobs. The scheme is subsidised with the government, paying 100 per cent of the age-relevant National Minimum Wage, National Insurance and pension contributions provided young people aged 16-24 are given quality positions with a minimum 25 hours a week. The scheme is fully funded for set-up costs, support and training all of which can be fully supported by Digital Training Northeast.

Controversially, the government has stipulated that in order to be eligible for Kickstart scheme funding, organisations need to create a minimum of 30 jobs before applying. Although this may be off-putting for many smaller businesses, that’s where we can help at Digital Training Northeast, we act on behalf of our clients as the Kick Start representative and pool together the 30 like-minded business’s to meet the government criteria for the scheme.

Is my business eligible for the scheme?

The government says that any organisation- regardless of size- can apply for funding.

The job placements created with Kickstart funding must be new jobs and must not: • Replace existing or planned vacancies • Cause existing employees or contractors to lose or reduce their employment

How does the kickstart scheme work?

New roles created under the scheme will need to 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

Each funding application should outline just how the placement will develop the participant’s skills and experience, including: • Support to look for long-term work, including career advice and setting goals • Support with CV and interview preparations • Support for the participant with basic skills, such as attendance, timekeeping and teamwork

Digital Training Northeast have all this in hand for you and can tailor the training, the new trainee receives to meet your business needs.

Managing recruitment and onboarding

With recruitment comes the inevitable but unavoidable paperwork. With all hands on deck driving revenue generation at the moment, additional admin is the last thing business leaders want or need, that’s why Digital Training Northeast will package this for you and deliver a first class service, James Fatherley our CEO has spent the last 15 years working in Senior positions of FSTE 100 companies delivering high class recruitment processes. It’s these processes we have embedded in our business to support you.

We use state of the art People management systems, (supplied from our sister company Digital HR Northeast) to automate manual admin processes and record-keeping. It enables us to store all trainee records and plan training and development.

At Digital Training Northeast we are passionate about helping young adults achieve their goals and build a better life, with your help we can achieve that by building excellent 6 months placements and help your business grow without the cost of employment.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James Fatherley .