Swindon & Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP) is delighted to announce that it has been selected to be a local Representative for the Government’s new Kickstart programme supporting businesses in the Swindon and Wiltshire area.
Kickstart is a six-month paid job with a local employer scheme and is funded by the Government. It provides a fully funded opportunity for businesses to provide employment to 16-24 years old, who are claiming Universal Credit, and are at risk of long-term unemployment.
This is an innovative new scheme to help young people into work and spur Britain’s economic revival. The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to employers to create new six-month job placements for young people age 16 to 24 who are currently on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.
This is part of the Government’s Plan for Jobs and aims to create hundreds and thousands of new, fully funded jobs 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; and
- employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions.
If your business can offer placements but not at 30+ and would like Swindon & Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership to act as your local representative, we would be happy to do so. Please provide the following information to our dedicated email kickstart@swlep.co.uk so that we can register your interest.
- Company name
- Point of contact and contact details
- Number of places you can offer
Applications from employers are now underway, and we expect to have roles on offer in many different types of businesses. We look forward to working with our local employers across the region to support young people in gaining valuable work experience and new skills.
Paddy Bradley, CEO, stated:
“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, stated:
“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”.
