Recommendation 9

Employers told the National Audit Office that in some cases they did not receive any referrals of job candidates at all, and that sometimes the Department removed their vacancies from its system without explanation.34 The charity Catch22, which has acted as a Kickstart gateway, told us that, in its experience, even when young people are referred to a vacancy, only around 20% actually make contact with the employer. In some cases, it said vacancies would receive over 50 referrals, but not a single young person would get in touch with the relevant employer.35 The Department suggested that situations like this, in which young people were referred for a vacancy but did not follow through to an interview, were less likely to happen when it was possible to bring work coaches, young 24 C&AG’s Report, paragraph 1.8. 25 PQ 904719 [on labour shortages and employment schemes], 13 December 2021. 26 Q2; C&AG’s Report, paragraph 2.9. 27 Q61; C&AG’s Report, paragraph 2.11. 28 C&AG’s Report, paragraph 2.10. 29 C&AG’s Report, paragraph 2.12. 30 Qq40, 45. 31 Q52. 32 Q54. 33 C&AG’s Report, paragraph 2.14. 34 C&AG’s Report, paragraph 2.4. 35 Ev DES0001 Catch-22. 12 DWP Employment Support: Kickstart Scheme people, and employers together in job centres.36 The Department also suggested that, in some cases, employers had unrealistic expectations of the types of role they could fill through the scheme.37