The Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP) has been selected to be a representative for small and medium-sized businesses wishing to take part in the Government’s new Kickstart scheme.
The Kickstart is a Government-funded, six-month paid job with a local employer scheme that provides a fully-funded opportunity for businesses to create employment for 16-24 year olds, who are claiming Universal Credit, and are at risk of long-term unemployment.
The new initiative aims to help young people into work and spur Britain’s economic revival following the COVID-19 crisis. It is part of the government’s Plan for Jobs and aims to create thousands of new, fully funded roles across England, Scotland, and Wales. The first placements are likely to be available from November.
Funding for each job placement will cover:
- 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week
- the associated employer National Insurance contributions
- employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions
Businesses that can offer placements but not at 30+ and would like Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership to act as their local representative should provide the following information to SWLEPS’s dedicated email kickstart@swlep.co.uk so they can be added to the register of interest.
- Company name
- Point of contact and contact details
- Number of places you can offer
Paddy Bradley CEO of SWLEP, said, “We are focused on helping young people into education, training and work. It is a natural fit for us to act as a representative organisation to enable many small and medium-sized businesses take on young people with potential through the Kickstart programme. This is a great opportunity to support businesses, young people and economic growth through one programme.”
Chris Stevens Growth Hub Manager added, “We are delighted to add another strand to our expanding service in supporting businesses recruiting work placements through the Kickstart scheme. We are very proud to represent our SME community in this capacity and are excited by the prospect of helping young people into work.”
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Adecco Working Ventures also recently announced that they were joining forces to act as a national representative to small businesses who want to take part in the scheme.
