What is the Kickstart Scheme?

The Kickstart Scheme was first announced in July 2020 by the Chancellor as part of the Plan for Jobs. Put simply, it’s a £2 billion fund designed to create high quality 6-month work placements for young people aged between 16-24. The scheme targets the most at-risk young people on Universal Credit to prevent them from falling into long-term unemployment.

The conditions of the Kickstart Scheme are:

• Job placements must be newly created jobs (they cannot replace existing positions or planned vacancies)
• The new job placements cannot cause existing employees to lose/reduce their employment
• The job placements must be for a minimum of 25 hours per week, for 6 months
• Successful applicants will be paid at least the National Minimum Wage for their age group
• The job placements should not require people to undertake extensive training before they begin the job placement

Funding available for each job will cover the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, plus the associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions.

How does it help young people?

Building confidence and skills in the workplace; gaining experience to support access to long-term employment; providing training and support with CVs and interviews… these are just some of the ways that the Kickstart Scheme will support young people in their employment. Find out more about the Kickstart Scheme here.

What is our role?

We want to establish a group of employers – known as our ‘Mighty Employers’ – from the cultural digital industry. So, if your organisation works in the media, digital, creative, cultural or educational field, then we’d love to hear from you.

Our role is as an Intermediary Organisation (or Gateway Organisation) for the DWP. As a team of creative arts enthusiasts, we’re inviting you to join us in contributing to the transformation of young peoples’ lives through opening up new job opportunities for them.

Our team have considerable experience supporting young people through training programmes and as young employees. We have directly engaged apprentices, work experience and interns over the years – as well as cultivating young staff and contractors. That’s why we think we’re best placed to help support you to become a Mighty Employer as part of the DWP’s Kickstart Scheme.