Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of expanding access to the Kickstart Scheme to enable small and medium sized enterprises to use that scheme.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme is already open for small and medium employers, as well as larger ones, to offer jobs to young people. On 3rd February 2021, we removed the requirement for an application to the Scheme to contain a minimum of 30 jobs. This means that employers have greater choice in how they participate regardless of the number of Kickstart jobs they are seeking to offer. All employers also have the option of applying through one of the 900 approved Gateway organisations supporting Kickstart. Sole traders can also participate in the scheme by applying through one of our approved Gateway Plus organisations.