One charity is a prime contractor on the government’s new £26m payment-by-results programme to get 16 to 17-year-olds back into education or training, while a number of other charities are sub-contractors on the three-year programme.

The new £26m programme is part of the Deputy Prime Minister’s £1bn Youth Contract. Groundwork is a prime contractor in three areas in the North-West. Its supply chain includes a number of regional Groundwork charities, Barnardo’s, Rathbone, YMCA, Catch 22 and the Prince’s Trust.

Groundwork hosted a roundtable with charities and government ministers on the £1bn Youth Contract at the start of the year. At  the time employment minister Chris Grayling said he expected charities to be active in delivering the 16 to 17-year-old section of the Youth Contract.

The other six prime contractors on the new programme are private firms, which each have a number of charities as sub-contractors to deliver services, including Tomorrow’s People and the Salvation Army.

Prime contractors will receive an initial payment for taking young people, and subsequently get paid on their success in getting young people to engage with training programmes or undertake apprenticeships. Organisations will gain up to £2,200 for each young person still in full-time education, training or work six months after re-engaging.

The Youth Contract will support 16 to 24-year-olds with £1bn in funding over the next three years. It is being jointly delivered by the Departments for Education, Business Innovation and Skills, and Work and Pensions.