Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams has urged employers in the constituency to sign up for the UK Government's new Kickstart scheme.

The £2 billion programme has been designed to help create jobs for young people, covering the wages of 16 to 24-year-old Universal Credit claimants for 25 hours a week.

The employers will also be offered £1,500 for each young person they take on, to help with training or associated costs such as uniforms.

The scheme will initially be open until December 2021, but there is an option for it to be extended. Young people will be referred into the new roles through their local Jobcentre Plus work coach, with the first scheme employees expected to begin at the start of November 2020.

Mr Williams said: “The UK Government’s £2billion Kickstart scheme launches today, and I’m calling on all local employers across Montgomeryshire to sign up to provide Kickstart jobs.

“It is vital that we don’t allow young people to be left behind as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and schemes like this will be vital for the creation of jobs and giving young people the skills to access them.

“I’m delighted that the UK Government are putting young people at the heart of its plans to build back stronger after the pandemic, and I hope as many employers as possible in Montgomeryshire are able to take part.”