In a speech given at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on 4 October 2021, the chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that a £500 million funding package would be enacted to extend job support schemes.
What does that mean for us?
The job support scheme announced earlier this year was due to end on 1 October for Apprenticeships and 17 December for Kickstart. Due to this recent announcement both schemes have been extended until January and March 2022 respectively.
What do these schemes consist of?
If you were unaware, here is a quick break down of the job support schemes, which have now been extended:
Apprenticeships
Employers can apply for a payment of £3000 for new apprentices of any age who have an employment start date of 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021. They must have an apprenticeship start date of 1 April 2021 to 30 November 2021.
The incentive payment is in addition to the £1,000 employers already receive for hiring an apprentice:
- Aged 16 to 18 years old
- Aged 19 to 24 with an education, health and care plan or who has been in the care of their local authority
Source
Kickstart
Employers of all sizes can apply for funding until 17 December 2021 to create jobs for 16 – 24 year olds on Universal Credit.
The funding 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 6 months
- associated employer National Insurance contributions
- minimum automatic enrolment pension contributions
Source
Why has the scheme been extended?
A progress report on the government’s July 2020 Plan for jobs has recently been revealed. The key findings include:
- Kickstart will create hundreds of thousands of jobs for young people at risk of long-term unemployment – so far over 63,000 young people have started a Kickstart job.
- In just eight months, the number of work coaches has doubled to 27,000.
- More than 85,000 apprentices have been newly hired under our new incentive payments, of which 75 per cent were under 25-years-old.
- Unemployment is falling, and Our plan is working. Unemployment has fallen for six consecutive months, with the peak now forecast to be two million less than previously feared.
During his speech at the conference Sunak said:
“We are expanding our successful plan for jobs into next year. The Kickstart scheme, extra support through the youth offer, the job entry targeted support scheme and our apprenticeship incentives all extended because we believe in the awesome power of opportunity and we are going to make sure that no young person in our country is left without it”.
How can I take advantage of this support?
If you are an employer looking to hire using one of these schemes you can find more details about:
If you would like our support in this process or if you would simply like a conversion discussing you potential options you can:
- Email us at info@ictraining.co.uk
- Call us on 02033 711 041