Kickstart for Employers

WHAT IS THE KICKSTART SCHEME?

The Kickstart Scheme is a £2 billion fund to create hundreds of thousands of high quality six month work placements for young people. The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to employers to create job placements for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment.

Through the scheme, employers will be able to access a large pool of young people with potential, ready for an opportunity. Initially the scheme prioritises young people aged between 16 and 24 who are ready for an opportunity and will be supported by their Jobcentre Plus work coach to enrol in the scheme. 

Since the Scheme’s launch in September, there are already 120,000 Kickstart jobs that would not exist without the scheme.

WHAT DOES THE KICKSTART FUNDING COVER?

The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to create new job placements for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment. Employers of all sizes can apply for funding which covers:

• 100% of the National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage depending on the age of the participant) for 25 hours per week for a total of six months
• Associated employer National Insurance contributions
• Employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions

Employers can spread the start date of the job placements up until the end of December 2021.

WHAT IS THE CRITERIA TO START THE APPLICATION PROCESS WITH DWP?

The job placements created with Kickstart Scheme funding must be new jobs. 

The job placements must not:

• Replace existing or planned vacancies
• Cause existing employees, apprentices or contractors to lose work or reduce their working hours

The job placements must:

• Be a minimum of 25 hours per week, for six months
• Pay at least the National Minimum Wage or the National Living Wage for the employee’s age group
• Only require basic training
• Help the young person become more employable

This employability support could include:

• Looking for long-term work, including career advice and setting goals
• Support with CV and interview preparations
• Developing their skills in the workplace

The young person may be able to move to another employment scheme when they’ve finished their six month Kickstart Scheme job placement. And, if the employer is not eligible for Kickstart Scheme funding, they can find out about other employment schemes. 

HOW DOES KICKSTART BENEFIT EMPLOYERS?

By taking part in the Kickstart scheme you will:

• Recruit fresh new talent and ideas into your business at zero cost
• Benefit from fully-subsidised job placements for 25 hours per-week, including associated employer National Insurance contributions and minimum automatic enrolment contributions
• Funding to cover the training and development needs of each young person placed
• Potential to secure the future workforce of your business

WHO ARE NCS TRUST?

The NCS Trust has been delivering programmes to young people in England since its pilot programme in 2009. With the support of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) we have since taken over 600,000 young people on the programme. In December 2019, we transitioned from a not-for-profit Community Interest Company to a Royal Charter body, achieving security as a national institution.

WHY IS THE NCS TRUST GETTING INVOLVED?

For the last decade, the NCS Trust has led the way in supporting young people in England to develop essential skills for work and life as they transition to adulthood. Delivering our programmes and services to over 600,000 young people, we have learnt a lot about how to engage at scale and reach, whilst still delivering quality and impact. We are excited by the government’s Kickstart scheme and see a huge opportunity to share our experience and expertise, so that every Kickstart placement makes the biggest difference for employers and young people, as we all work together to recover from the pandemic and build back a thriving society and economy. 

WHAT IS THE NCS TRUST'S PROPOSITION AND HOW IS IT ADDING VALUE TO KICKSTART?

At the heart of our impact over the last decade are two key concepts: developing essential skills that help young people to navigate work and life, and building connections to the community and other people, so that long term wellbeing is supported. These ideas are central to the services the NCS Trust has designed to enhance Kickstart. Working with the NCS Trust will not only ensure employers meet the requirements for training and development set out by DWP, but in fact surpass them.

We will be offering work placements for young people, and acting as a Gateway organisation for employers, offering specialised training. 

Support to employers: helping them to more effectively line manage and engage with young people before and during their employment.

Support to employees: provide mentoring, digital tools to manage and progress their personal development journey, and introducing and sign-posting to opportunities for further education, employment and training.

Connecting to the local community: providing structured social action and volunteering opportunities during work time to help develop deeper social capital for employees, furthering the development of long-term mental health and wellbeing, and help employers act with purpose and deliver social impact in the community.

Creating a national community: using the power of the NCS Trust brand and our digital platform to deliver inspiring experiences and bring young people together across different employment sectors and across the country to feel like they belong to something bigger and inspire them to continue on their skills and employability journey.

WHY CHOOSE THE NCS TRUST GATEWAY?

The NCS Trust is a Royal Charter Body, and is the UK government’s only Arms Length Body for youth. This means that we are well placed to support the management of grant agreements and funding. By using the NCS Trust as a Gateway organisation, employers can leave us to worry about the monthly administrative actions required by the scheme. And, by using our insight-led training and development packages, employers can feel confident that they are delivering quality and impact that exceeds the requirements set out by DWP within the grant funding. 

HOW DOES THE PROCESS WORK?

1. Once you have provided us with information about placements by completing our online form we will then send an application to DWP for these roles
2. While the application is processed by DWP you can complete vacancy templates (job descriptions) which are then sent to DWP if the application is approved 
3. The vacancy templates are then sent to DWP and logged onto their system for JobCentre Plus Coaches to access and promote placements to the eligible group (ages 16-24 claiming Universal Credit)  
4. The candidate will then make contact with you to send their CV and start the recruitment process
5. Once selected, the candidate agrees to a start date and you register them on PAYE

CAN I GET HELP FROM NCS FOR MY APPLICATION WITH DWP?

We will undertake the following roles as a Gateway organisation;

• Work with businesses to ascertain the suitability of proposed placements
• Gain all the required information from businesses to submit an application to DWP
• Support businesses to develop suitable job descriptions if required
• Liaise with DWP to promote the vacancies
• Support businesses to get their placements started successfully if required
• Ensure that businesses have in place a suitable programme of ‘support’  for the young person
• Ongoing liaison with DWP to ensure placements are filled efficiently and successfully, also to support young people who are not successful in securing a placement
• Pay the appropriate funding to employers

HOW DO I RECEIVE THE FUNDING?

DWP will send the funding to us as a Gateway. We are then responsible for sending the funding to you.

You need to inform DWP when the young person starts the job placement. The £1,500 setup costs and £360 admin costs will then be paid.

If you get someone else to do some of the job placement setup and employability support, such as our range of NCS services, we can then agree how this money is shared. As an employer you have the choice to buy into some, all, or none of our services for a share of the £1,500 DWP grant. However, there is no obligation to do so. The scale of involvement is likely to depend on your own organisation’s ability to support your young people. 

DWP will use information from HMRC to check that the young person is still employed. The grant funding to pay the young person’s salary will be paid in monthly arrears when we know they are:

• enrolled on the employer’s payroll
• being paid through Pay As You Earn (PAYE)

You can pay a higher wage and for more hours but the funding will not cover this.

CAN I EMPLOY A YOUNG PERSON FOR MORE HOURS / HIGHER PAY?

Yes. You can employ for more than 25 hours per week or at a higher hourly rate than the National Minimum Wage for the young person, but the funding will not cover this, you will need to pay for this.

CAN I ADVERTISE THE ROLES THROUGH OUR PLATFORMS?

Yes you can advertise the roles through your own platforms, as long as you ensure the young person is signposted to Jobcentre Plus. The young person must go through  Jobcentre Plus and discuss the placement with their work coach.

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END OF THE PLACEMENT?

The young person may be able to move to another employment scheme when they’ve finished their six month Kickstart Scheme job placement, such as an Apprenticeship. Or, your business may choose to employ the young person.