Latest news with #Kickstart
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Young carer who unwittingly breached allowance rules forced to repay £2,000
A young carer who had looked after her disabled mother from the age of eight was forced to repay more than £2,000 when she unwittingly breached carer's allowance benefit earnings rules after joining a government youth employment scheme. Rose Jones, 22, said she was twice wrongly advised by her jobcentre work coach that her wages earned under the Kickstart scheme would not affect her eligibility for carer's allowance. Less than a year after she completed the six-month scheme, under which the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) paid her wages, she received a demand from the DWP demanding she pay back £2,145 of overpaid benefits. 'I was shocked when the letter arrived – it came on my 20th birthday – and I really didn't know what to do. I thought it was a mistake because my work coach had told me it was fine. It was a really scary letter to receive,' Jones said. The case is the latest in a stream of carer's allowance injustices highlighted by a year- long Guardian investigation and a relatively rare case involving a young carer – most unpaid carers are much older adults. At least 144,000 UK carers are repaying more than £250m in earnings-related carer's allowance overpayments caused by what MPs said were 'human mistakes' on the part of carers and repeated DWP administrative and policy failures. Thousands of carers have been prosecuted and millions of pounds of public money wasted. The government last year vowed to reform aspects of carer's allowance after widespread public outrage. It commissioned an independent review of carer's allowance overpayments which is expected to report to ministers in July. Jones began caring for her mother, who has physical and mental disabilities, at the age of eight, helping around the house and with shopping, looking out for her safety, and accompanying her to hospital appointments. Being a carer affected her childhood and education, she said: 'I was always quite hesitant to be away from my mum. I'd worry about her all the time when I was at school and struggle to focus. I wouldn't want to go on sleepovers at friends' houses.' When she turned 16 she started to claim carer's allowance and it was only when she took up a place in 2021 on the DWP's Kickstart scheme aimed at young people at risk of long term unemployment, introduced during Covid in 2020, that it became an issue. Jones said: 'Before I'd accepted the job [though the Kickstart scheme] I told him [the job coach] I was on carer's allowance and I told him the exact amounts I'd be on and that I'd be working from home so I'd be doing the same amount of caring as always. 'He assured me that he was confident that my carer's allowance would not be affected. I asked him a couple of times, not just one phone call. I checked again after a couple of months once I had started earning my wage, and he reassured me, so I thought at this point everything was fine.' The demand, when it came, felt massively unjust. 'I'd been told by the work coach it was fine. I'd been a carer for my mum all my teenage years and felt my experiences had just been disregarded.' Under Kickstart, the DWP paid employers £1,500 a month towards wages and training costs, with participants guaranteed to be paid the equivalent of 25 hours a week at the national minimum wage. In Jones's case, this is £656 a month, which worked out for the purposes of the DWP's earnings rule calculation at £151 a week. Jones was taken on as a digital marketing assistant by a local firm and under carer's allowance rules was allowed to earn up to £128 a week on top of her carer duties, equivalent to 19.5 hours at the minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds. Because she had unwittingly breached the weekly earnings limit, carer's allowance rules meant she forfeited her £67.60 carer's allowance. This 'cliff edge' rule meant had she gone even £1 a week over the limit for six months she would have had to repay over £2,000. Related: 'Something has gone very wrong': how the carers scandal was exposed Jones said she was frustrated by different branches of the DWP – the jobcentre, the employment section and the carer's allowance unit – which did not seem to be clear on the rules and had not routinely shared information about her case. She was also shocked that the DWP had known about the earnings breach but had waited months before alerting her, allowing a debt to accrue that will take her years to repay. 'It's left me with a bit of distrust towards the DWP,' she said. Emily Holzhausen, the director of policy at Carers UK, said: 'It's devastating to see a young person who has had a more challenging start in life be badly let down by the DWP. 'It's not the first time that hard-pressed carers have been given the wrong information by people working for the DWP; the very people they trust to get the rules about benefits and entitlements right. 'The fact that the DWP's computer systems don't speak to each other have left many unpaid carers with unacceptable overpayments – despite the DWP having information that could have been used to stop them earlier.' A DWP spokesperson said: 'We understand the huge difference carers make as well as the struggles so many face. 'The carer's allowance overpayment rate is now the lowest on record and we are increasing funding and bringing in more staff to check 100% of alerts to help prevent carers falling into debt. 'But we want to go further, that's why we've launched an independent review of carer's allowance to explore how earnings-related overpayments have happened and what changes can be made.' • This article was amended on 15 June 2025. An earlier picture caption called Rose Jones Ruth. Owing to a miscalculation, it also said that she received £164 a week instead of £151 a week.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Young carer who unwittingly breached allowance rules forced to repay £2,000
A young carer who had looked after her disabled mother from the age of eight was forced to repay more than £2,000 when she unwittingly breached carer's allowance benefit earnings rules after joining a government youth employment scheme. Rose Jones, 22, said she was twice wrongly advised by her jobcentre work coach that her wages earned under the Kickstart scheme would not affect her eligibility for carer's allowance. Less than a year after she completed the six-month scheme, under which the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) paid her wages, she received a demand from the DWP demanding she pay back £2,145 of overpaid benefits. 'I was shocked when the letter arrived – it came on my 20th birthday – and I really didn't know what to do. I thought it was a mistake because my work coach had told me it was fine. It was a really scary letter to receive,' Jones said. The case is the latest in a stream of carer's allowance injustices highlighted by a year- long Guardian investigation and a relatively rare case involving a young carer – most unpaid carers are much older adults. At least 144,000 UK carers are repaying more than £250m in earnings-related carer's allowance overpayments caused by what MPs said were 'human mistakes' on the part of carers and repeated DWP administrative and policy failures. Thousands of carers have been prosecuted and millions of pounds of public money wasted. The government last year vowed to reform aspects of carer's allowance after widespread public outrage. It commissioned an independent review of carer's allowance overpayments which is expected to report to ministers in July. Jones began caring for her mother, who has physical and mental disabilities, at the age of eight, helping around the house and with shopping, looking out for her safety, and accompanying her to hospital appointments. Being a carer affected her childhood and education, she said: 'I was always quite hesitant to be away from my mum. I'd worry about her all the time when I was at school and struggle to focus. I wouldn't want to go on sleepovers at friends' houses.' When she turned 16 she started to claim carer's allowance and it was only when she took up a place in 2021 on the DWP's Kickstart scheme aimed at young people at risk of long term unemployment, introduced during Covid in 2020, that it became an issue. Jones said: 'Before I'd accepted the job [though the Kickstart scheme] I told him [the job coach] I was on carer's allowance and I told him the exact amounts I'd be on and that I'd be working from home so I'd be doing the same amount of caring as always. 'He assured me that he was confident that my carer's allowance would not be affected. I asked him a couple of times, not just one phone call. I checked again after a couple of months once I had started earning my wage, and he reassured me, so I thought at this point everything was fine.' The demand, when it came, felt massively unjust. 'I'd been told by the work coach it was fine. I'd been a carer for my mum all my teenage years and felt my experiences had just been disregarded.' Under Kickstart, the DWP paid employers £1,500 a month towards wages and training costs, with participants guaranteed to be paid the equivalent of 25 hours a week at the national minimum wage, in Jones's case £164 a week, or £656 a month. Jones was taken on as a digital marketing assistant by a local firm and under carer's allowance rules was allowed to earn up to £128 a week on top of her carer duties, equivalent to 19.5 hours at the minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds. Because she had unwittingly breached the weekly earnings limit, carer's allowance rules meant she forfeited her £67.60 carer's allowance. This 'cliff edge' rule meant had she gone even £1 a week over the limit for six months she would have had to repay over £2,000. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Jones said she was frustrated by different branches of the DWP – the jobcentre, the employment section and the carer's allowance unit – which did not seem to be clear on the rules and had not routinely shared information about her case. She was also shocked that the DWP had known about the earnings breach but had waited months before alerting her, allowing a debt to accrue that will take her years to repay. 'It's left me with a bit of distrust towards the DWP,' she said. Emily Holzhausen, the director of policy at Carers UK, said: 'It's devastating to see a young person who has had a more challenging start in life be badly let down by the DWP. 'It's not the first time that hard-pressed carers have been given the wrong information by people working for the DWP; the very people they trust to get the rules about benefits and entitlements right. 'The fact that the DWP's computer systems don't speak to each other have left many unpaid carers with unacceptable overpayments – despite the DWP having information that could have been used to stop them earlier.' A DWP spokesperson said: 'We understand the huge difference carers make as well as the struggles so many face. 'The carer's allowance overpayment rate is now the lowest on record and we are increasing funding and bringing in more staff to check 100% of alerts to help prevent carers falling into debt. 'But we want to go further, that's why we've launched an independent review of carer's allowance to explore how earnings-related overpayments have happened and what changes can be made.'
Daily Mirror
13-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
wagamama launches summer menu with build-your-own bowls and non-alcoholic drinks
wagamama has launched its new summer menu, which includes pho noodle soups, build-your-own rice bowls, and miso caramel banana bread, as well as a new brand platform In a major move, wagamama has launched 'Food is Life', a new brand platform and summer menu designed to reinforce what the brand says is a commitment to fresh, innovative food and meaningful dining experiences. The 'Food is Life' platform is described as the 'most powerful and expansive' launch since wagamama's founding in 1992. According to the brand, 'Food is Life' is a celebration of food's emotional power and cultural importance, focusing in on the belief that food is much more than just fuel. The new platform is being rolled out alongside a bold summer menu that emphasises personalisation, freshness, and feel-good food. Among the highlights are brand-new pho noodle soups, featuring a fragrant yuzu broth and konjac noodles. It has also introduced a build-your-own donburi concept, following demand for better personalisation. Diners can create their own rice bowl, choosing from a range of proteins, fresh toppings, and vegetables, with the option to swap in cauliflower 'rice' as a lighter base. The summer menu also boasts vibrant new salads, such as a sweet chilli salad with caramelised chicken or tofu, and a pad thai salad inspired by the brand's popular teppanyaki dishes. These are targeted at customers seeking healthier meals without compromising on flavour. Steve Mangleshot, wagamama's Global Executive Chef, said: "wagamama has always been distinctive, from our open kitchens to our communal benches, we were born different. "With 'Food is Life', we're reminding the world that food isn't just something you consume. It's something you feel. Something that can change your day, and even your life, and it can be enjoyed anytime, any occasion." In addition to the new food offerings, wagamama is also introducing a range of non-alcoholic beverages, including the spicy Saffron Picante, Strawberry Spritz, and an invigorating Kickstart juice. For pudding, the menu presents miso caramel banana bread, served warm with vanilla ice cream and toffee sauce. The new brand platform is being brought to life through a campaign titled 'wagamama when'. It aims to emphasis the 'unscripted moments' in people's lives where wagamama plays part, either when you're craving comfort, or when your day needs a boost. Emma Colquhoun, Chief Marketing & Commercial Officer at wagamama, said: "With 'wagamama when', we're celebrating those real, everyday moments when food brings people together."
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jobseeker numbers drop by more than 50 in one year
The number of jobseekers without work has dropped by more than 50 in the last year. Statistics published quarterly by Work Support found there were 259 jobseekers without work at the end of March in 2025 - a decrease of eight compared to the previous month and a decrease of 52 compared to March 2024. The number of jobseekers with some work increased by six from February to March 2025, including people in part-time or casual employment. The Job Centre promoted 226 job advertisements in March 2025, while 56 people were on training schemes such as Work2Benefit, Kickstart and placements with the third sector. The government said about 5,000 adults in Guernsey did not work, but the majority were able to support themselves without claiming benefits. More news stories for Guernsey Listen to the latest news for Guernsey Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to Kenya signs Crown dependencies recruitment deal More than half of jobless adults not on benefits The charity getting islanders into the workforce States of Guernsey
Business Wire
13-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Pluto Bio Raises $3.6M to Expand AI-Powered Multi-Omics Analysis Platform for Pharma
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pluto Bio, the leading, AI-powered platform for computational biology, today announced it has raised $3.6 million in new funding to accelerate growth and scale adoption of its enterprise-grade platform among global pharma companies. The round includes participation from new investor Kickstart, alongside existing investor Silverton Partners and existing angel investors. Pluto is fueling its mission to make high-dimensional biological data accessible to scientists discovering new therapies for unmet needs. Pluto's platform serves as the industry's most powerful "canvas for computational biology" – a secure, collaborative environment where scientists at therapeutics companies explore large, high-dimensional datasets, run auto-scaling bioinformatics pipelines, and generate publication-ready visualizations tailored to their specific scientific questions without writing code. As large language models (LLMs) reshape drug discovery and development, Pluto is at the forefront of empowering biology and translational medicine teams to harness AI in a manner that complements the vital insights from human scientists. 'AI is transforming how we interrogate biology,' said Dalton Wright, General Partner at Kickstart. 'What impressed us about Pluto is how it puts the power of LLMs into the hands of domain expert scientists – biologists, translational researchers, and discovery teams – by giving them an instantly intuitive interface for expressing scientific questions faster and in a way that increases scientific rigor and reproducibility.' Pluto enables scientists to run proprietary analyses on both public datasets – such as The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) – and internal, raw data using industry-validated, auto-scaling pipelines built for scale, security, and reproducibility. Scientists use Pluto for critical steps in early-mid drug discovery, such as target discovery, mechanism of action (MoA) studies, translational medicine, and biomarkers/precision medicine research. The platform supports the wide range of assays used for investigating targets and biomarkers, including genomics, transcriptomics, epigenetics, and proteomics. The platform is trusted by mid-market and enterprise clients across North America and Europe, with users spanning discovery biology, translational research, and computational teams. As a collaborative layer over drug discovery data infrastructure, Pluto integrates seamlessly into existing scientific workflows and supports data governance needs for regulated environments. 'With this funding, we're fueling our mission to make high-dimensional biological data accessible to the people who deeply understand the underlying biology and unmet therapeutic needs,' said Dr. Rani Powers, Founder and CEO of Pluto. 'Teams using Pluto are already demonstrating that innovation in drug discovery accelerates when scientists can directly generate insights from complex data. Our platform was built to make that vision real, whether for a team of ten scientists or an enterprise organization with hundreds.' The new capital will support continued development of Pluto's AI agents and copilots, expansion of integrations with other R&D tools, enable build-out of commercial roles, and accelerate deployment across therapeutic areas and modalities. About Pluto Pluto Bio is the leading AI-powered data management, analysis, and visualization platform for multi-omics. Designed for pharma, Pluto enables scientists to analyze, visualize, and collaborate on large-scale biological data without writing code. From target discovery to translational medicine, Pluto empowers R&D and translational science teams to turn complex datasets into insights faster and with greater confidence. Learn more at
