Kickstart Scheme

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Thursday 3rd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

I was also in Scotland last week, talking about the potential of this in helping young people right across Scotland. Barriers have actually been removed from previous designs of schemes. This is a straightforward way to try to help people to get involved, but it is important that the extra support that goes to help these young people is delivered at good quality. That will be important for the employer but also for the intermediary, who will often have a greater amount of experience to help to ensure that this is fully effective.

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

Tourism is vital to north Devon, and many small tourism businesses such as Mill Park caravan and campsite in Berrynarbor are enthusiastic about recruiting local young people through the kickstart scheme. Will my right hon. Friend detail how smaller businesses wanting to take on just one or two young people in rural areas like north Devon can participate, when we are currently lacking any intermediaries?

[Dr Coffey]

I am pleased to hear that people in my hon. Friend’s constituency are keen to get involved in offering these opportunities for young people. The best way, if they have an expression of interest, is for them to contact the local jobcentre or directly email their expression of interest to the contact, which is set out on gov.uk/kickstart with one simple link to go from there.

In terms of access, there will be an opportunity for potential umbrella organisations that may include her destination marketing organisation as a way of co-ordinating this approach. We are also expecting local enterprise partnerships to get heavily involved. I know that many discussions are already under way.