The government’s jobs guarantee programme will include grants of up to £2,650 per participant for organisations supporting unemployed young people into paid work placements.
Guidance for the ‘jobs guarantee’ offer, published last week, revealed that delivery organisations that apply successfully will be offered up to £2,250 for wraparound support and training costs as well as up to £400 for administration costs.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said applications, which are open until February 28, are welcome from any organisation with experience of employment, skills, youth or wraparound support services.
Phase one of the programme is due to start “from April 2026”, with six-month paid work placements available for up to 1,200 young people aged 18-21 years old, who have been on universal credit for 18 months, in six areas of the UK.
The government is promising to cover all of each young person’s employment costs for up to 25 hours a week, alongside wraparound support to help them succeed and “transition into sustained employment”. Up to £250 in “onboarding costs” will also be available to employers.
In a foreword to the grant guidance, skills minister Jacqui Smith said the scheme, which will provide 55,000 jobs nationally over the next three years, aims to address the “life-long scarring effect” that long-term unemployment has on a rising number of young people.
She added: “The jobs guarantee is a down payment on young people’s futures and the future of the country, creating real pathways into good jobs and providing work experience, skills training and guaranteed employment.”
The DWP confirmed to FE Week that job guarantee delivery partners can include, but are not limited to, specialist employment support organisations, charities and non-profits, local authorities and mayoral strategic authorities.
This could also include general further education colleges or independent training providers, like was the case with Kickstart – a similar scheme rollout out during the pandemic by the previous government.
Phase one of the new jobs guarantee is expected to start in April, with job starts between May and October 2026, and the final six-month jobs finishing by April 30, 2027. National rollout is expected to start “later in 2026”.
The six areas, described as having the “highest need” are: Birmingham and Solihull, the East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire and Essex, Central and East Scotland and South West and South East Wales.
Young people living in those areas will be referred to successful delivery organisations by the DWP.
The guidance suggests some flexibility on eligible participants, such as accepting young people who have “minimal work history” over 18 months and 22- to 24-year olds if there is “spare capacity”.
Last week, work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden said over 60 employers have already expressed an interest, including EON, JD Sports, Tesco, and TUI.
The roles are expected to involve “meaningful work that provides them with a purpose and allows them to make a meaningful contribution”.
It must not involve “significant classroom or online training beyond that provided to regular employees” but should provide opportunities to learn, develop, gain new skills and experience that will help them into sustained employment.
The jobs guarantee is part a wider package of initiatives aimed at reducing the estimated one million young NEETs (not in education, employment, or training).
This includes 900,000 young people on Universal Credit being referred to “intensive support”, 300,000 training or workplace opportunities, and more than 360 “youth hubs”.
A government-commissioned investigation into young NEETs, led by former Labour minister and social mobility commissioner Alan Milburn, is due to issue an interim report this spring followed by a final report in the summer.
Regional mayors have also been running eight pilot “youth guarantee” programmes for young people since spring last year, which have also been testing out subsidised work placement programmes.
Aspects of the jobs guarantee scheme appear similar to Kickstart, a £1.1 billion government scheme that offered about 163,000 subsidised work placements for young people on universal credit from 2020 to 2022.
The predecessor
A similar scheme, Kickstart, was rolled out in 2020 but was initially criticised for being “chaotic” and of questionable value for money. Experts now, however, claim that such subsidised work experience schemes “add value” to government employment strategies.
Through Kickstart, employers who could offer at least 30 placements could apply directly, with smaller employers asked to apply through a “gateway” provider.
The government paid gateway providers £360 per placement to support administrative costs and £1,500 to employers to help with set-up costs.
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