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New Enterprise Allowance scheme

NEA is available to some Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), Universal Credit (UC), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Income Support (IS) claimants.

Participants will get access to financial support and a volunteer business mentor who will provide guidance and support as they develop their business plan and through the early months of trading.

The New Enterprise Allowance scheme offers business mentoring and financial support to unemployed people who want to become self-employed. They get an interview with a mentoring partner organisation, who will carry out an initial assessment of their business idea.

If they are accepted onto the New Enterprise Allowance scheme then they will work with a business mentor through face-to-face mentoring sessions for approximately 8 weeks to produce a business plan. The business plan will then be subject to an approval process.

The ‘mentoring stage’ of New Enterprise Allowance lasts for up to 8 weeks (this can be extended to 12 weeks in exceptional circumstances). A mentor can continue to support their mentee for a further 6 months while they’re getting the weekly New Enterprise Allowance.

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