The Kickstart Scheme is aimed at 16 to 24 year olds who may find it more challenging to access the world of work.  The scheme provides 6 month placements, at 25 hours per week at minimum wage – although the employer can offer more hours and cover the additional cost.  The total grant available from the scheme is £6,500, which pays for the wages and the on-costs such as NI etc.

In addition, there is a further £1,500 payable to the employers for them to provide wrap-around employability support – this can be either in-house or the employer can pay for the support to be delivered.  Whichever way, you will need to be able to evidence what the support is and the impact/benefits to the employee.  Norfolk Chambers is working with various training providers and others to offer a suite of support options to make it easier for the employers to provide the wrap-around employability support.  At present all the support is based online, due to the current pandemic restrictions.

City College Norwich

College of West Anglia

East Coast College

Futures For You

Steadfast Training

To qualify for a Kickstart placement – the business must be able to demonstrate that this role is additional.  The placement is for 6 months, at the end of that period, you can either take that person on or replace them with another placement for a further 6 months.

The Kickstart Scheme requires employers to be able to offer a minimum of 30 placements which for the majority of Norfolk businesses will not be possible – therefore Norfolk Chambers has become a Gateway, and we will collate the 30 placements on behalf of a group of employers. 

If your business wishes to take part in this scheme, you will need to advise how many placements and the type of placement.  Apply for your placements now.  

Once Norfolk Chambers have received the 30 completed applications, we will submit the cohort to the DWP and notify you of the submission day.  The DWP are quoting up to 30 days for a response on the cohort applications.

If your application is successful, a grant funding agreement will be issued and you must return the signed funding agreement and provide a detailed job description for the position.  Candidates via the DWP will then apply for the job placements and you can choose who to employ. Please note, you will only obtain funding if you appoint a young person that DWP have introduced.

For more information on what happens following the submission of the cohort to DWP – click here.

If you have any questions on the Kickstart Scheme, please contact:

Nova Fairbank              [email protected]

Charlotte Upcraft           [email protected]

Or call: 01603 625977

Co.mmunicate

Members can have their news posted here.

To include your latest news please use the contact form to get in touch and we'll upload it for you.

Gold and Strategic Partners