Overview of proposed Kickstart Scheme

An application to the government Kickstart scheme can only be submitted if there are 30 or more placements being offered. IASME is proposing to represent the smaller cyber security companies who may want to hire just one or two people through this scheme. We will only be able to submit an application if we have 30 placements in total.

IASME will administer the scheme and also provide an extensive cyber security training package (see below) for the new hires.

Here is a summary of the proposed scheme:

1. We will apply for the grant on your behalf and coordinate the applicants. You will need to provide us with a job description and conduct the interviews yourself.

2. You’ll get £1,000 funding per job placement. This is for setup costs and to support the young person develop their employability skills. The total amount of money for this is £1,500 but IASME will keep £500 per placement and this will be used to offset the training we provide.

3. Kickstart Scheme wages and related costs
This funding covers:
• 100% of National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage depending on the age of the participant) for 25 hours per week for a total of 6 months
• associated employer National Insurance contributions
• employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions
Employers can pay a higher wage and for more hours but the funding will not cover this.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will send the funding to IASME and we will pay it to you.

4. Job placement criteria
The job placements created with Kickstart Scheme funding must be new jobs.
The job placements must not:
• replace existing or planned vacancies
• cause existing employees, apprentices or contractors to lose work or reduce their working hours
The job placements must:
• be a minimum of 25 hours per week, for 6 months
• pay at least the National Minimum Wage or the National Living Wage for the employee’s age group
• only require basic training
For each job placement you must help the young person become more employable (IASME training will do this). This could include:
• looking for long-term work, including career advice and setting goals
• support with curriculum vitae (CV) and interview preparations
• developing their skills in the workplace
The young person may be able to move to another employment scheme when they’ve finished their 6-month Kickstart Scheme job placement.

5. What you need to give IASME
You will need to give us:
• your Companies House reference number, Charity Commission number or Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator number, if you have one
• your organisation address and contact details
• details of the job placements and their location

6. Tell us how your job placements are new and created just for the scheme
The job placements must not:
• replace existing or planned vacancies
• cause existing employees, apprentices or contractors to lose work or reduce their working hours
Tell your Kickstart gateway:
• how many employees you have
• about changes to your workforce in the last 6 months and why (for example redundancies and changes to hours worked by existing staff)
• the number of people affected by changes to your workforce in the last 6 months
• about the kinds of roles, functions and average salary of those who were made redundant or who had their hours reduced in the last 6 months
• if you would be able to create these job placements without Kickstart Scheme funding and what funding source you would use
• what recruitment you have completed, started or paused in the last 6 months, including how similar these vacancies are or were to the roles you are creating for the Kickstart Scheme
• if the job placements will be similar to existing or planned roles or the roles previously done by those made redundant or with fewer working hours, why you are using Kickstart Scheme funding to create similar roles
• if you’ve engaged with any relevant trade unions and any advice the unions have given

7. How you will support young people to become more employable
IASME is going to provide a training package that covers all of this so you don’t need to do any of this unless you want to but you can tell us if you plan any further support:
• what support will be offered (for example helping young people with writing their CV and preparing for an interview)
• when you will provide this support (for example halfway through their placement or towards the end)
• how many hours it will take
• who will provide the support (for example you may already have a pre-existing relationship with training providers)
• how you will monitor this support
• how the young person can provide feedback during their placement and afterwards, and how this will be acted on

8. How you will get the funding
DWP will send the funding to IASME. They will be responsible for sending the funding to you.
£1,000 per job placement
The £1,000 setup costs will be paid when the young person starts the job placement.
Kickstart Scheme wages and related costs
DWP will use information from HMRC to check that the young person is still employed. The grant funding to pay the young person’s salary will be paid in monthly arrears when we know they are:
• enrolled on your payroll
• being paid through Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
You can pay a higher wage and for more hours but the funding will not cover this.

9. Getting the young people into the job placements
Kickstart Scheme job placements are only available for Universal Credit claimants aged 16 to 24 who are referred to you by DWP.
If your application is successful:
1. IASME will give job descriptions to DWP that work coaches at Jobcentre Plus will use.
2. The work coaches will match suitable candidates to the job placements.
3. You’ll then be able to interview the candidates matched to your job placements.
4. You’ll select the candidate best suited to the role.
Funding will only be given if a young person is hired using the Kickstart Scheme process.
After a job placement ends you can get another Kickstart Scheme young person to start another job placement.

10. IASME Training provided
IASME will keep £500 per placement in the set-up costs to cover the training (this will leave you with £1,000 per placement) and this will contribute towards the training we will offer. This offer of training will be for all job roles but if you are hiring an admin person you may want them to only attend items 1 and 2. This will not change the amount to charge because this covers the admin of the training too. The training for each placement will be:

• Direction to the free Open University training (all admin staff in IASME complete this and find it useful) https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/introduction-cyber-security-stay-safe-online/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab
• A webinar coving CV writing and interview techniques
• Seven modules of Cyber Security and Information Assurance described here (currently aimed at CEOs of small companies but tweaked to be suitable for new starters) https://iasme.co.uk/cyber-security-leadership-strategies-programme/
• A Cyber Essentials Assessor course – this means they will be able to then do basic level CE assessments if they also pass the free Assessor Skills exam and have more than 3 years experience in IT or Cyber Security. But even if they do not have those pre-requisites and cannot be an assessor they will be able to help and work towards that.