Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure young deaf people who are not eligible for universal credit can access the Kickstart Scheme.

A young person is eligible for a job on the Kickstart Scheme if they are aged 16-24, on Universal Credit (UC), and considered to be at risk of long term unemployment by their work coach. The Department of Work and Pensions has no current plans to extend the eligibility for the scheme beyond UC claimants, but we will keep that under review. If a young person is deaf or has hearing difficulties this would not prevent them from being referred to a Kickstart Scheme job as it is open to all young people who are on UC as long as they meet the eligibility/suitability criteria.