DWP’s Fact Sheet on the Youth Contract 2012

The Youth Contract and Apprenticeships Opportunities for Employers in the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sectors

The Youth Contract is introducing a range of additional help for unemployed young people and will be available from April 2012. The Youth Contract will build on much of the existing support that is already available from across Government and through Jobcentre Plus and The Work Programme.

The Work Programme is the Government's leading welfare to work programme, delivered across Great Britain by contracted providers.

The Youth Contract along with Apprenticeships aim to encourage and help employers to offer sustainable jobs, training and work experience opportunities to young people and gives them opportunities to bring in fresh, young talent into their organisations.

These opportunities are open to employers from the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors as well as the private sector.

This factsheet explains the support on offer and tells you how to get involved.

Support to offer sustainable jobs to young people

Through the Youth Contract, DWP will be providing 160,000 Wage Incentives worth up to £2,275 to employers who recruit 18 - 24 year olds who are unemployed, claiming benefits and participating in the Work Programme. Employers in the voluntary, charity and social enterprise sector who can offer sustainable jobs to young people will be able to benefit from the Wage Incentive.

Employers can register their interest in supporting the Youth Contract and can find out more via the DWP website at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/youth-contract/

Support to create more work experience opportunites

Work experience can often provide the first rung of the ladder for young people trying to get into the labour market. The Youth Contract supports the creation of an additional 250,000 work experience places through the Department's work experience and sector-based work academies programmes http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/the-work-programme/

Work experience places young unemployed people with local businesses where they are able to gain valuable work experience, improve their CVs and marketability to potential employers. Work Experience also provides young unemployed people with a new potential route onto an Apprenticeship.

Employers interested in offering Work Experience places can pledge their support at: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk

More information is available at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/work-experience-guide.pdf

Apprenticeships in England

Apprenticeships are paid jobs with training designed by employers themselves. There are 250 Apprenticeship frameworks available covering more than 1200 jobs. Apprenticeships can get young people started on a promising career and bring higher lifetime earnings. Their employers benefit from financial help with training costs, improved productivity, staff retention and progression to management, and better understanding of organisational values and ethos. We want to encourage more employers from the voluntary, charity and social enterprise sectors to take advantage of what's on offer.

To boost recruitment of young people to Apprenticeships we are offering an incentive payment to employers. A further 40,000 incentive payments of £1,500, a joint investment by DfE and BIS are supported by funding from the Youth Contract. They are available to employers that employ less than 250 employees and are new to Apprenticeships, supporting them to recruit their first apprentice aged 16-24. We are also introducing new ways to simplify and speed up Apprenticeship processes for employers - particularly Small and Medium Sized Enterprises - in all sectors.

Through Apprenticeships, VCSE employers can play a part in boosting employment prospects for young people while building their organisation's capacity to deliver excellent services - a ‘win-win' arrangement. The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) provides more information to guide you through the steps of setting up an Apprenticeship.

We want to encourage employers and participants to consider Apprenticeships as the next step from Youth Contract and other DWP measures for unemployed people: NAS and Jobcentre Plus can work together to make that happen.

Further information is available at: http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk

For details of Apprenticeships In Scotland go to http://www.myworldofwork.co.uk and for Apprenticeships in Wales go to http://new.careerswales.com/16to19/server.php?show=nav.4749