Work and Pensions

Thérèse Coffey Excerpts

Thursday 4th February 2021 Ministerial Corrections

[Chris Clarkson (Heywood and Middleton) (Con)]

What steps she plans to take to increase the participation of young people in the kickstart scheme as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

[Dr Coffey]

Kickstart has got off to a flying start and I am delighted to inform the House that to date 120,000 kickstart jobs have been approved and 2,000 young people have already started. Around 10,000 jobs are available to young people now and I am expecting a further 33,000 or so to be placed fairly soon while we work with employers to finalise the detail of the job offer. We recognise that young people have been greatly impacted by the pandemic, which is why kickstart is such a pivotal part of our plan for jobs to help them secure a stable footing on the career ladder.

[Official Report, 25 January 2021, Vol. 688, c. 8.]

Letter of correction from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the right hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey).

An error has been identified in the response I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Heywood and Middleton (Chris Clarkson).

The correct response should have been:

[Dr Coffey]

Kickstart has got off to a flying start and I am delighted to inform the House that to date over 110,000 kickstart jobs have been approved and 2,000 young people have already started. Around 10,000 jobs are available to young people now and I am expecting a further 33,000 or so to be placed fairly soon while we work with employers to finalise the detail of the job offer. We recognise that young people have been greatly impacted by the pandemic, which is why kickstart is such a pivotal part of our plan for jobs to help them secure a stable footing on the career ladder.

Topical Questions

The following is an extract from oral questions on 25 January 2021.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[Dr Coffey]

Our kickstart scheme is putting the future of young people front and centre of our plan for jobs. I have already shared with the House that over 120,000 kickstart roles have now been approved, and we want to turn those into job starts. In addition to making it simpler for employers by removing the 30-vacancy threshold for direct applications, as was set out earlier, employers who cannot currently access kickstart at all—for example, sole traders with no pay-as-you-earn systems—can now join up through the gateway-plus model that is currently provided by the Federation of Small Businesses and Adecco joint venture. It is an exciting phase as we move up a gear.

[Official Report, 25 January 2021, Vol. 688, c. 16.]

Letter of correction from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the right hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey).

An error has been identified in my response to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Chi Onwurah).

The correct response should have been:

[Dr Coffey]

Our kickstart scheme is putting the future of young people front and centre of our plan for jobs. I have already shared with the House that over 110,000 kickstart roles have now been approved, and we want to turn those into job starts. In addition to making it simpler for employers by removing the 30-vacancy threshold for direct applications, as was set out earlier, employers who cannot currently access kickstart at all—for example, sole traders with no pay-as-you-earn systems—can now join up through the gateway-plus model that is currently provided by the Federation of Small Businesses and Adecco joint venture. It is an exciting phase as we move up a gear.