The expected announcement on the extension of the Kickstart placement scheme today by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to address staffing shortages is concerning Cumbria Chamber Managing Director, who says extending the scheme is not a sensible move and will not have the desired effects.
Managing Director of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Caldwell says: “It is beyond belief that the Chancellor considers extension of the Kickstart scheme a sensible move and one that will contribute significantly to addressing the staffing shortages facing businesses.
“This is a failing scheme, and unless the extension brings significant changes to the way it operates, we cannot see how it will have the desired effect. Nationally only 76,700 placements have been filled of the 250,000 target and 196,300 placements made available. Locally, we have helped fill 164 placements, over 150 roles have been closed down due to not being filled and we still have over 400 places to fill that are either awaiting paperwork, or are live and not being filled, that’s more than 700 opportunities in total.
“Here in Cumbria, we’ve been told that we are one of the best performing areas for Kickstart, and yet far too many of the places on offer are just not being filled and Jobcentres are closing them down.
“Cumbrian employers have come forward with hundreds of great opportunities for young people, but the majority remain unfilled and we have stopped putting forward new vacancies as to do so is only wasting time employers just don’t have. Employers have wasted significant time and effort applying for this scheme and trying to fill these opportunities, but Jobcentres are failing to come up with the young people to fill these opportunities.
“Partly there are not enough young people, but Jobcentres have also by their own admission, been failing to engage effectively with the young people that are there. On top of this there are other young people they have just not been putting forward, taking the view that these young people should be able to find jobs outside of the Kickstart scheme.
“They’re also now telling us that many of the roles are not interesting to the young people who are eligible so they’re not putting them forward. Given the tremendous range of roles put forward by Cumbrian employers this is incredible. Opportunities offered here in the county include digital content and marketing, administration, finance, boat building, engineering, chefs, teaching assistants, estate workers, farming and much more. And the majority of employers have been looking to turn these into apprenticeships and permanent roles.
“Whether they are ‘interesting’ or not is frankly beggars belief that people are allowed by Jobcentres to ignore these roles and sit, unemployed, on Universal Credit.
“If the scheme is to be extended it should be made mandatory. It should also be opened up to anyone unemployed who wants to take up one of the opportunities, whatever their age and whatever the Jobcentre’s view of their immediate employability.”
Cumbria Chamber has acted as a Gateway for the Government’s Kickstart placement scheme whichprovides funding to create job placements for 16-to-24-year-olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long-term unemployment. Cumbria Chamber isn’t pursuing any further Kickstart placements.
