Guidance

Manage your Kickstart Scheme funding

How employers will get the Kickstart Scheme funding and changes you need to tell us about.

From:
Department for Work and Pensions
Published
13 September 2021
Last updated
19 August 2022 — See all updates

This guidance was withdrawn on

The Kickstart Scheme has closed.

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Employer guidance

Kickstart Scheme applications have closed.

Check the deadlines for completing other Kickstart Scheme tasks.

  1. Find out how the Kickstart Scheme works

  2. Manage your funding

If you’re a Kickstart gateway, check the guidance for gateways.

Before you can manage your Kickstart Scheme funding

You must have:

  • successfully applied online or applied through a Kickstart gateway for a Kickstart Scheme grant before midday on 17 December 2021
  • signed and returned your Kickstart Scheme grant agreement to DWP or your Kickstart gateway by 11:59pm on 7 January 2022
  • submitted your Kickstart Scheme vacancies by 11.59pm on 31 January 2022
  • started the young person in the job on or before 31 March 2022
  • told us by 11:59pm on 30 November 2022 that the young person has started their job

How the funding is calculated for each young person

The total grant is made up of:

  • 25 hours each week at National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (depending on their age at the end of the job*) multiplied by 26 weeks
  • National Insurance and workplace pension contributions
  • the £1,500 funding for setup costs is then added to this amount

*For example, if a young person starts the job aged 17 and turns 18 before the end of the 26 weeks, the funding will cover National Minimum Wage for 18 year olds from the first day of their job.

How you’ll get the Kickstart Scheme funding

If you applied online, DWP will send the funding directly to you.

If you applied through a Kickstart gateway, DWP will send the funding to them. The Kickstart gateway will be responsible for sending the funding to you within 5 working days of receiving it from DWP.

£1,500 funding for setup costs per job

You’ll get £1,500 funding per job. This should be spent on setup costs and supporting the young person to develop their employability skills.

For example:

  • training and employability support (provided by you, a Kickstart gateway or another provider)
  • IT equipment and software
  • uniform or Personal Protective Equipment

DWP may ask you for your records to show that you’ve spent the funding on setup costs and supporting the young person’s employability.

How you’ll get the £1,500

If you apply directly, the £1,500 funding for setup costs will be paid when you tell us that the young person has started the job (you must have done this by 11:59pm on 30 November 2022). You’ll be told how to do this in the email you receive when a work coach refers a young person to your job vacancy.

If you apply through a Kickstart gateway, you need to tell them when the young person starts their job. They can then send you the £1,500 funding once they’ve received it from DWP. They must tell us about the job start by 11:59pm on 30 November 2022.

If a Kickstart gateway or another provider does some of the job setup or employability support for you, you can use the £1,500 funding to cover this.

The funding covers:

Employers can pay a higher wage and for more hours but the funding will not cover this.

Every 30 days we use information from HMRC to check that the young person is being paid through Pay As You Earn (PAYE).

We’ll then send the funding for the wages and related costs to cover the previous 30 days of employment.

Each time you’ll receive a remittance advice explaining what you’ve got. You’ll be able to identify the young person in the remittance advice by their ‘Introduction ID’. We’ll send you the Introduction ID in an email when the young person is referred by a work coach to your job.

Funding schedule

The schedule shows when the funding will be sent to either:

  • you if you applied directly
  • your gateway (they will then need to pass the funding on to you within 5 working days)
Funding type When we usually process the funding When you’ll usually receive the funding
Setup costs After you or your gateway has told DWP the young person has started (do this by 11:59pm on 30 November 2022) Up to 11 working days after it’s been processed
First wage payment 6 weeks after the start date Up to 11 working days after it’s been processed
All other wage payments 30 days after the previous wage payment Up to 11 working days after it’s been processed

The last day for processing payments is 30 November 2022.

Updates to this page

Published 13 September 2021
Last updated 19 August 2022 + show all updates

  1. The deadline for telling DWP that a young person has started their job is 30 November 2022.

  2. Updated page because the deadline for telling us that the young person has started their job has now passed.

  3. Updated page as the deadline for submitting vacancies has now passed.

  4. Updated page as the deadline for grant agreements to be signed and returned has now passed.

  5. Updated page to say applications for Kickstart Scheme funding closed at midday on 17 December 2021 and removed links to the apply guides.

  6. Added deadlines for completing Kickstart Scheme tasks.

  7. Added information about Kickstart Scheme applications closing on 17 December 2021.

  8. First published.

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