Great to see #kickstart launched today.
Credit to govt for taking on board feedback on its design, with clear space for private sector, local govt, public bodies, charities to create great jobs. Wld urge people to do it.
Some thoughts below, incl reflecting on my time doing #FJF

First, this will be a broad church - far broader than #FJF, where we set the rules on additionality/social benefit so tight as to rule out most private sector.
#Kickstart is not the same, but nor should it be - as risks of displacement and substitution are different now.

But, FJF worked cos people created good quality, supportive jobs.
So it's great govt took on board input that #kickstart needs to make space for local govt, charities to do same again - with more funding, rules on quality and transitional support, and support for intermediaries.

I know @groundworkuk, @PrincesTrust, @transformliveco, @CreativeSoc, @londoncouncils and more are actively exploring bids - so I'd urge anyone else who wants to create jobs for disadvantaged young people, to do it. I hope we will too.
But... the guidance was the easy part...

... The hard part will be getting the scale we need, across all of Britain AND ensuring good quality jobs. With #FJF this was a huge job that tapped into existing networks and (a lot of) goodwill.
We'll need both, and for various reasons it'll be harder this time.

And just to repeat, #FJF worked cos employers created quality jobs with transitional support, which meant people moved on to permanent jobs at the end. #kickstart will succeed or fail on the quality of the jobs and the help to find the next one - so focus must be on delivery.

Finally, I do have one very big concern (sorry!)
In my view, eligibility for #kickstart risks being far too broad.
There's likely to be well over one million young people starting UC claims in next 12 months, and probably ~200k kickstart jobs...

So it's imperative that #kickstart is targeted at those who'll struggle to find work without a job being created.
If it's not well targeted then it's bad for those who get the jobs, bad for those who don't, and bad for employers.
Why?

If it's not well targeted then those who get the #kickstart jobs may well have got permanent and better paid jobs without the same help. So they would be worse off in the short and long run. A ton of evidence on this, dating back to 1980s Community Prog, and in other countries.

Employers trying to fill permanent jobs would also be worse off, as suitable candidates could be diverted into #kickstart instead, making it harder to fill vacancies (and even now, jobs are being created - with 1.6m starting new jobs between April and June).

But most importantly, #kickstart is perfect for those who are most disadvantaged: the jobs will boost confidence, improve skills and networks, and address negative 'signal' of being disadvantaged/LTU. So if they DON'T get kickstart , then what will they get that can do all this?

As I know well from #FJF, all the pressure will be on volume - jobs created, jobs filled.
But it must be well targeted and high quality, or else we'll hit the target and miss the point - which must surely be to ensure we don't go back to the days of mass youth unemployment.