Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Fuller Excerpts

Monday 8th March 2021 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)]

What assessment she has made of the effect of the removal of the requirement that kickstart applicants bid to deliver a minimum of 30 jobs on the accessibility of that scheme to a wider range of employers.

[Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con)]

What assessment she has made of the effect of the removal of the requirement that kickstart applicants bid to deliver a minimum of 30 jobs on the accessibility of that scheme to a wider range of employers.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Dr Thérèse Coffey)]

I am pleased to update the House that, after removing the threshold last month and allowing direct applications for any number of roles, we saw an increase of 3,000 employer applications throughout February, which is a jump of 75%. There will continue to be an important role for gateways as we progress to our ambition of 250,000 kickstart jobs, which we are well on the way to achieving, with almost 150,000 roles approved, more than 4,000 young people having started their roles and another 30,000 vacancies live right now.

[Richard Fuller]

I thank my right hon. Friend for her answer. Given the large number of small and medium-sized enterprises across the county, jobcentres in Bedfordshire, including the one in Biggleswade in my constituency, are raring to go to enable small businesses to take advantage of this change in Government policy. Can she advise me what she is doing to ensure that those small businesses are aware of the scheme and its benefits?