Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to work with organisations such as Gateway to agree a maximum time between submission and approval of applications for the Kickstart scheme.

The department has worked with a wide range of stakeholders, including gateway organisations since the scheme was announced and will continue to do so.

We have recently improved the assessment process to allow us to consider an application in full to make a decision. We have also continued to improve and expand our guidance to make sure employers know what we are looking for when assessing applications. Whilst maintaining a high standard for Kickstart jobs, these changes will mean that more applications are likely to be successful.

We aim to make a decision on an application within four weeks of receiving it, although this can take longer if more information needs to be gathered. Approved Gateways can get in touch with their local or national Kickstart scheme contact for information about how to add job placements or employers to their existing grant agreements.