David Fowler MIStructE, Editor
david@maintenanceandengineering.com
@MaintOnLine
Among the groups worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been widely pointed out, are children and young people whose education has been disrupted. Particular concern surrounds school and college leavers from the last two years whose expectations of entering the job market have evaporated or been severely curtailed.
The government’s Åí2bn Kickstart job support scheme, announced last September in response was widely welcomed and has particular resonance for engineering-led industries, whose long-standing skill shortages are well known.
Kickstart pays the minimum wage and employers’ NI contributions for 25 hours a week over six months for unemployed 16-24 year-olds companies take on, with an additional Åí1500 available for training.
But, as pointed out by CBI president Lord Bilimoria in a speech to the Association of School and College Leaders, of 150,000 approved placements, only 5,000 have so far actually started.
This is partly due to delays caused by the latest lockdown, forcing some companies to put plans on hold. But it is also due to bureaucratic delays, including from a government vetting process which understandably seeks to make sure placements offered are of a high quality. As a result, placements are taking too long to be approved or matched with candidates.
With the scheme due to end in December, Lord Bilimoria called for a six-month extension, because the remaining period won’t give employers time to make the most of the scheme.
The Youth Employment Group, a coalition of organisations which have come together to coordinate a response to the pandemic, has fleshed out a number of compelling arguments for an extension:
• It’s unrealistic to try to cram the placements in to the reduced time between now and December. Even if the optimistic scenario transpires in which there is a surge in recruitment this summer, this isn’t long enough to reach those “at the back of the queue” – the people who have been unemployed for longest.
• Extending Kickstart provides a chance to secure a legacy. It would allow for data on outcomes to be collected and analysed, allowing continuous improvement principles to be applied. This would allow the scheme to be developed into a ready-made template for government responses to future labour market crises.
• When first announced the scheme was due to run just long enough for companies to contemplate fitting in three consecutive six-month placements. An extension would allow this idea to be revived.
• Several employers planned to start placements in March this year so that young people on placements could continue into the company’s apprentice intake in September. An extension would allow this to happen next year as well, which would also boost the current low numbers of young people not in education, employment or training going into apprenticeships.
The business community has welcomed many aspects of the government’s Covid response, giving credit where due to initiatives such as Bounce Back Loans. Businesses have equally given a vote of confidence with their response to Kickstart.
Last month, the government showed it could be responsive by waiving an initial requirement that Kickstart employers had to provide 30 placements to apply to the scheme directly rather than through a “gateway” organisation, accepting the argument that this worked against smaller companies wanting to get involved.
It should show the same responsiveness on this issue and grant an extension.