Y Not organiser aims to use Govt’s Kickstart injection
SARAH Dines MP has met with
Jason Oakley, he founder of the homegrown music festival Y Not, to discuss the business and how his team is getting on during the Coronavirus pandemic.
She says she was particularly interested to hear that the festival is planning to make use of the £2 billion Government Kickstart scheme, which aims to make it easier for employers of all sizes to give young people at risk of long-term unemployment a future of hope and opportunity by creating high-quality, government-subsidised jobs across the UK, supporting them into work as it delivers on its commitment to level up the entire country.
Introduced as part of the Plan for Jobs, the Kickstart Scheme allows employers to offer young people between 16 and 24 who are on
Universal Credit a six-month work placement that is fully funded by the Government.
Under this scheme, the Government will pay 100 per cent of the young person’s agerelevant National Minimum Wage, National Insurance and pension contributions for 25 hours a week, which the employer can top up if they choose to.
In addition, the Government will pay £1,500 per Kickstarter taken on to cover any associated set up costs.
Ms Dines said: “Y Not Festival is a vital cultural event, held in the heart of the Peak District.
“It provides employment opportunities for local people in a creative industry that would simply not exist in this area without an event of this scale.
“The benefits it brings for the local economies of the surrounding towns and villages and the opportunities for trade and employment it creates, have been, and will be again, a welcome and much-needed boost for local communities.
“They use and source 80% of their suppliers from Derbyshire Dales and hope to increase this figure.
“They play a vital role within the community and are a much loved and well attended event.
“Through initiatives such as the government’s Kickstarter Scheme, the festivals own paid work experience scheme for college and sixth form students, and the local traders scheme, providing discounted pitches for small and local enterprises, Y Not provides many opportunities for young people and small and developing businesses in the area.”
Marie Macklin CBE is founder and executive chair of HALO Urban Regeneration, which is managing a £63million project in Kilmarnock that will create opportunities through the Kickstart Scheme.
“This will be the first town centre net zero carbon energy project in Scotland – a Community Urban Village, which also forms part of the net zero pledge to create a new green economy wrapped around enterprise and innovation. We’re hoping to create 1,300 jobs and £200million for the Scottish economy,” says Marie.
“The scheme is life-changing in the sense that these areas – not just in Kilmarnock, but some of the most deprived communities in the country – are being helped, and we need to give these young people a road to recovery. I was that kid from a deprived community. We have some
amazing companies in our city centres, but young people in these challenging economic times – how do they get a job there?
“There was £1,500 allocated for each person for purpose-built training and that is enabling us to work with the top experts to create a cyber security course for young people who have disengaged from school, and really have no hope.
“Some of the people we are working with have great computer skills, but they don’t have the confidence. So this is offering a stepping stone into a whole new world – to help protect our country and to give them confidence to work with some of the best cyber security experts in the world.
“The uptake has been immense. We stress that you don’t need a qualification to do the course as there are too many kids who don’t engage in going to college because it is an establishment.”