Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what due diligence her Department conducted on the Kickstart scheme gateways it recommended to employers.

All Gateways are subject to financial checks by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). These checks included using the Cabinet Office Spotlight Tool which complemented existing pre and post-award checks. Further information on the Spotlight Tool can be found here.

Kickstart District Account Managers, Work Coaches and other officials are encouraged to highlight any concerns they have about any organisation involved in the Kickstart Scheme, including those acting as a Gateway. This would include any concerns about the quality of the Kickstart experience or questions about the suitability of the roles. Issues raised are investigated and where issues are identified DWP will take appropriate action, which may include reducing the number of jobs offered by the organisation or in the most serious cases, rescinding the Grant Agreement entirely.