My Lords, I thank the right reverend Prelate, the noble Lords, Lord Storey and Lord Aberdare, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle and Lady Sherlock, for taking part.
Amendments 45 and 63 from the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Durham and the noble Lord, Lord Storey, broadly seek to enable individuals studying at level 3 and below to claim universal credit—an issue debated at some length in Committee. It is of course vital that students feel supported and have the confidence to come forward to upskill. Where we differ is in how that support is financed.
As the noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock, talked about, there should be a joined-up approach between the Department for Education and the DWP. Important work is already under way on this subject, as she mentioned. Officials at the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions are working closely together to help address and mitigate the barriers to unemployed adults taking advantage of our skills offer.
There is a new DWP train and progress initiative aimed at increasing access to training opportunities for claimants. As part of this, in April 2021 a temporary six-month extension to the flexibility offered by universal credit conditionality was announced. As a result of this change, adults who claim universal credit and are part of the intensive work search programme can now undertake work-related full-time training for up to 12 weeks, or up to 16 weeks as part of a skills boot camp in England. This builds on the eight weeks for which claimants were already able to train full-time. I am pleased to inform your Lordships that this flexibility has now been extended to run through to the end of April 2022. These measures are truly helping to ensure that UC claimants are supported to access training and skills that will improve their ability to gain good, stable and well-paid jobs.
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We must remember that Section 4(1)(d) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012—which I know we have in our minds all the time—sets out that one of the basic conditions of entitlement to universal credit is that the person must not be receiving education that can be defined in regulations made under subsection (6). As noble Lords are probably already aware, financial support for students comes from the current system of learner loans and grants designed for their needs. Where students have additional needs that are not met through that support system, exceptions are already provided under regulation 14 of the Universal Credit Regulations, enabling those people to claim universal credit. That includes those responsible for a child, as either a single person or a couple, or those aged 21 or under studying non-advanced education such as A-levels who do not have parental support.
It is an important principle that universal credit does not duplicate the support provided by the student support system. Importantly, universal credit may still be available for an adult who is undertaking a course up to level 3, provided that their course is compatible with work-related requirements agreed with their work coach. Where the course is work-related and will give the person the best chance of securing work, the work coach may consider it a suitable work-preparation activity. In such cases, time spent on the course will be deducted from the amount of time the person needs to spend looking for work. We therefore do not think it necessary for the UC regulations to be amended in the manner suggested.
I turn to the topic of Kickstart and the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord Storey. As I am sure noble Lords are aware, the Kickstart Scheme was created and deployed rapidly to provide urgent jobs for young people to support their long-term work prospects. Kickstart will help to reduce the long-term effects of unemployment caused by the pandemic.
To be effective, the scheme must be targeted. For that reason, Kickstart funds the creation of jobs for people aged 16 to 24 on universal credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. Through Kickstart, these young people have the chance to build confidence and skills in the workplace and gain experience that will improve their chances of progressing to find long-term, sustainable work. As of the end of September, over 86,000 young people had started in a Kickstart job, with over 3,500 young people starting in roles each week. Whether we are going to reach 250,000 is, I am afraid, not something that I can say now.
With regard to the noble Lord’s amendment, I hope he is delighted to hear that on 4 October the Chancellor announced that Kickstart would run to the end of March 2022, thereby allowing the Government to continue to offer Kickstart jobs to as many young people as need them. Alongside that, we have been delighted to see the wider labour market open up and more opportunities become available to young people. We do not want Kickstart to displace existing vacancies so there are no plans to extend eligibility beyond universal credit claimants.
As noble Lords can see, this is a clear demonstration that the Government are already keeping Kickstart under review. The amendment is therefore unnecessary. I hope this has provided some explanation to noble Lords.
Some questions came up that I will try to answer. I think the noble Lord, Lord Storey, asked me about advertising Kickstart to 16 year-olds when they are not entitled to universal credit and therefore cannot do it. I partly answered that when I said that, while it is unlikely, some 16 year-olds can qualify for universal credit and, in turn, Kickstart. This number may be low but, for those eligible, Kickstart can be there to support them. As I said earlier, it is for those 16 to 17 year-olds who may be responsible for a child or who have regular and substantial caring responsibilities, among other examples.
The noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, talked about Kickstart moving to apprenticeships. Once a Kickstart job has finished, work coaches will discuss further opportunities,
such as apprenticeships and traineeships. But we know that all young people who have gone through Kickstart will have improved their employable skills.
The noble Lords, Lord Aberdare and Lord Storey, talked about small and medium-sized businesses. We have worked hard to make Kickstart available to them, creating gateways. New small and medium-sized businesses can apply directly to DWP—we received feedback saying that this was something that they wanted. We also created more for sole traders to take part through Gateway Plus organisations that place a young person on their pay system. We also created a network of Kickstart district account managers in every jobcentre area to manage and support employers of all sizes.
The noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock, asked how people who have undertaken training under the LSG will fund themselves if they cannot get universal credit. Adults who study at level 3 or above can apply for an advanced learner loan to help them with the costs of a course at a college or independent training provider, if they cannot do so through existing entitlements. There is also a bursary fund to help vulnerable and disadvantaged people, via colleges and apprenticeship providers, with support such as childcare. I hope that answers noble Lords’ questions.
I ask the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Durham to withdraw his amendment and the noble Lord, Lord Storey, not to move his when it is reached.