To ask the Minister for Communities for an update on the establishment of the JobStart scheme.

Ms Hargey

I thank the Member for his question. The Job Start scheme was due to launch on 14 December. Unfortunately, the Department has had to pause the scheme because clarification is needed on funding approval for it going into the new financial year. I continue to keep the situation under review and will advise of developments. There have also been limitations due to the current regulations, which encourage people to stay at home. We engaged with employers and key stakeholders in devising the Job Start scheme, and I want to get it kicked off as soon as I possibly can. The Budget was announced yesterday, and we can see the pressures that it has presented. I continue to engage with the Finance Department and other Executive colleagues. I continue to look at the labour market and at what interventions we can make. I commit to getting the Job Start scheme up and running as soon as possible.

I was told that it would launch in November, and it is now being put off yet again. Rather than Job Start, it seems more like "Non Start". Can the Minister outline what funding was bid for and say whether any money has been returned to the centre as a result of the delays in launching this much-wanted scheme?

Ms Hargey

We are trying to launch the scheme in this financial year, so, as yet, no money for the scheme has been returned to the centre. The delays are around financial commitments in terms of whether we can run the scheme in the new financial year. I completely understand the frustrations. I have been raising this in terms of the financial commitments in the Budget, because this is one of the critical areas as we start to look at recovery from the pandemic. Because of the current restrictions, there are limitations on what we can do to engage with young people entering the labour market, albeit that we hope that those restrictions will start to ease in the coming months. This is under constant review. It is an urgent matter for me to get the programme up and running as soon as possible when we have the resources committed to do so. I will update Members as we move through this, and I appreciate that the Member has communicated with me on this; others have as well. We want to get this resolved as soon as possible.

Ms Sheerin

I join others in welcoming the Minister back. I have the honour of being next door to Carál Ní Chuilín upstairs, and, when the Minister was off, the biscuit supply was affected, so I have a dual reason for welcoming you back. Minister, can you advise what types of job young people will be advised to enter in the Job Start scheme?

Ms Hargey

The Job Start scheme is different from Kickstart. There is greater flexibility in the Job Start scheme in that, if a single job opportunity arises, we can engage with the employer. There are restrictions in the scheme across the water in that a smaller employer would need at least 30 applications before that can be considered. We are looking at any area across the employment sector. We want to engage with young people to ensure that they are job-ready to look at opportunities lasting up to six months, where they can be placed in a work-based environment with job and youth work coaches who can support the young person and match them to job opportunities. Engagement is ongoing with employers to look at potential placements, and I hope that, as soon as we can go live with the scheme, we can issue more details on the uptake that we get from young people.

Mrs Barton

Minister, I wish you all the best in your recovery too. You are very welcome back here. Will there be any training for the young people for the jobs that they are interested in and, perhaps, for the people who will employ them?

Ms Hargey

There will be training and support. We are working with psychology experts in the Department on the barriers and limitations for the young people. They will be assigned support from the Department to work with them to ensure that they are job-ready and to prepare them for the transition into a six-month placement. We will work with them through designated work coaches who deal specifically with young people on the issues and barriers pertaining to young people. There will be opportunities for young people to be employed for a minimum of 25 hours per week for six months. Training will be assigned to meet the young person's individual needs as they work through the initial application stage.

Mr Givan

I welcome the Minister back to her place and wish her well. The job support scheme is an important one that we would like to see commenced; however, it is equally important to keep people currently in jobs. What representation is the Minister making on behalf of sports clubs that have hospitality, including bars, that are being denied access to the localised restrictions support scheme? I refer to clubs such as Ballymacash Rangers Football Club, which you visited, that are being deprived of that support, which is jeopardising their projects.

Ms Hargey

I thank the Member for his question. That matter has also been raised in my constituency. I know that it not only relates to social premises in sporting clubs but includes social clubs as well. There are limitations. I have given support to sport through the grants that have been made available. Where there is lost income from the social club end that benefits the sport, that can be picked up under that sports programme. The closing date for that is tomorrow, so I encourage all Members who have sports organisations in their constituency to ensure that they put in for that grant. Last year, during the first lockdown, sports clubs and social clubs were impacted, and I wrote to the Minister for the Economy about schemes in that Department. In reference to this scheme, you pointed to the Department of Finance, and we have raised the matter with it. Officials from both Departments are looking at this to see what additional scheme can be put in place. I cannot amend the existing sports scheme because it is a live application process. We are now working collectively and urgently. We had a meeting at the end of last week, and we will re-engage this week to see whether we can look at an additional measure to meet the need that is being expressed by Members. It is a concern for people. There is a concern that their profit should not go into private pockets but should go to meet a broader social need in how they reinvest it. We are looking to see whether a scheme can be created, and, again, we will keep Members updated on where that sits. I am told that the difficulty with the existing scheme at the finance end is with the rate and the rateable value. If some of those organisations were to be paid on the basis of their rateable value, although they may operate only a room, they would be paid more than some of our hotels. Obviously, there is a disparity that we need to address, but I am conscious that there is a gap and that we need to find a way as urgently as possible to meet the need and fill that gap. We can update Members as we progress in those discussions, and that will come to a conclusion over the next week or so because, obviously, we need something in place before the end of this financial year to support those sports clubs and, indeed, social clubs.