A plan for Jobs

By Niamh Kelly

No one can deny it’s been a strange year…..

First of all, we had the UK formally leaving the EU (although the details are yet to be finalised). Many companies also saw a huge impact from the flooding at the earlier start of the year and then of course, COVID-19.

Through it all, the wheels of Government and the Law kept turning; not just on legislation that had been passed in April 2020 (the “Good Work Plan”) but also on new initiatives under the Governments ‘Plan for Jobs’

This was launched in July 2020 as part of a 3-phased approach to economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19. The Job Retention Bonus of £1000 for companies who kept staff on after Furlough was announced. We’ve already seen how successful the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme was for pubs and restaurants and this is being supported by the rat of VAT for most tourism and hospitality-related activities being cut from 20% to 5%

There was also an announcement of funding to help get the UK get greener and meet Net Zero Carbon emissions by 2050 and £8.8 billion of new infrastructure, decarbonisation and maintenance projects expected to create tens of thousands of jobs.

Last week we were given details of the ‘Kickstart Scheme’ to support young people back to work; and it’s safe to say it wasn’t ‘quite’ what SME’s were expecting!

Briefly, the scheme provides for:

6 month placements open to those aged 16-24 who are claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long term unemployment.
They will be available across a range of different sectors in England, Scotland and Wales.
The first placements are likely to be available from November.
£1500 per job placement available for set-up costs, support and training
Extra funding to support young people to build their experience and help them move into sustained employment after they have completed their Kickstart funded job.

Employers will received funding for 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours per week; plus associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum auto-enrolment pension contributions; and funding is following a successful application process.

So far so good, but sadly likely nearly all Government initiatives - there is a catch: applications must be for a minimum of 30 job placements and for most organisations who aren’t the size of Tesco (!), this will be far more than the one or maybe two placements they had envisaged.

Fortunately, Chambers of Commerce, and other local agencies, have come together to partner with other organisations as allowed under the scheme (similar to the old ‘Future Fit’ plans some years ago). So my advice in the first instance is to check out what is happening locally for you in England through your Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) (different rules apply in Wales and Scotland).

If you are interested in providing a placement, then these are the rules:

The job placements created with Kickstart funding must be new jobs. They must not replace existing or planned vacancies or cause existing employees or contractors to lose or reduce their employment

The roles you are applying for must be a minimum of 25 hours per week, for 6 months; paid at least the National Minimum Wage (NMW)for their age group and should not require people to undertake extensive training before they begin the job placement

Each application should include how you will help the participants to develop their skills and experience, including: support to look for long-term work, including career advice and setting goals support with CV and interview preparations; supporting the participant with basic skills, such as attendance, timekeeping and teamwork

Helpfully, once a job placement is created, it can be taken up by a second person once the first successful applicant has completed their 6-month term.

Hot on the heels of the ‘Kickstart Scheme’ announcement, came the updates on the Apprenticeship Incentive payments. Briefly, you can get ‘bonuses’ of up to £2000 for hiring an Apprentice between 1^st August 2020 and the 31^st January 2021, with payments coming in instalments after 90 and 365 days of employment. This is of course on top of the contributions that SME’s can get towards the actual training scheme (for example, many companies would be eligible for significantly reduced training fees up to a maximum of 5% of the total cost).

With so many people having had to look at different ways of working; including new careers; now might be the ideal time for you to consider whether one of these schemes could both help you expand your business and provide someone with a new opportunity?