Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to extend the eligibility criteria for applications to the Kickstart Scheme.

The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to create new job placements for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment. Guidance on eligibility has been published on the gov.uk/kickstart website. As of the 11^th November 2020 we have received 4,359 applications and 19,672 Kickstart placements have been approved; we will keep the eligibility for the scheme under review, but have no current plans to extend it.