Council Kickstarts employment and business funding opportunities
09 November 2020
A job creation scheme designed to support young people into employment is being backed by Aberdeen City Council.
The local authority has signed up to be a gateway organisation for the UK Government’s Kickstart scheme, to enable businesses which cannot meet the minimum bid to provide 30 new jobs to access the grant funding through the council.
Delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions, Kickstart will place young people aged 16-24 into jobs and pay the minimum wage for up to 25 hours per week for six months, as well as paying the employer’s National Insurance contributions and minimum automatic enrolment costs. Organisations can, if they wish, increase the salary and hours at their own cost.
Employers will receive £1,500 for every person they employ in new jobs through Kickstart. The scheme cannot be used to replace or displace existing staff.
Council Co Leader, Councillor Jenny Laing, said: “Aberdeen City Council has a key role to play in supporting our people, our businesses, and our city through the impacts of the pandemic and the oil and gas downturn.
“We are stepping up as a Kickstart gateway organisation to ensure that city businesses can benefit from this scheme, ensuring as far as possible that money brought into Aberdeen via Kickstart remains in the city, bolstering the local economy and providing our young residents with an income, rather than benefiting businesses in other parts of the UK.
“The scheme aligns firmly with our Socio-Economic Rescue Plan in terms not only of job creation and business support, but also in supporting our young people into employment.
”As well as being a gateway organisation, we are also looking at becoming a Kickstart employer by creating internships for young people across a range of council services, providing them with valuable work experience in a supportive environment, the opportunity to develop key skills and to access jobs or career paths such as apprenticeships in our key areas across the council.”
The scheme is designed to support young people in receipt of Universal Credit who are at risk of long-term unemployment into work. All young people on Kickstart will receive support from their Job Centre Plus work coaches and may receive additional training in advance of or during their work placement.
There is no requirement for employers to keep young people on at the end of their six month Kickstart placements, but there is an aspiration that at least some of the jobs will be extended beyond the six months or become permanent.
Businesses interested in becoming a Kickstart employer should contact complete the online form at https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/business-and-licensing/kickstart or email kickstart@aberdeencity.gov.uk For further information about Kickstart for employers and young people visit