The Work and Pensions Secretary has indicated that some young people will no longer receive benefits they are currently entitled to, ahead of the publication of a landmark review aimed at addressing the surge in youth unemployment. Pat McFadden stated that a "complete reset" of the system was required to support 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, work or training, the number of whom surpassed one million earlier this year.
Amid growing concern among some backbench MPs regarding the scale of future support, he urged colleagues to regard the changes as a "different proposition" to last year, when the Government dropped planned welfare cuts following a backbench rebellion.
Milburn Review Set to Propose Sweeping Changes
This comes ahead of the release of Alan Milburn's review of so-called Neets – under-25s not in employment, education or training – on Tuesday, which is widely expected to put forward sweeping changes. Mr Milburn has indicated that some young people will receive less financial assistance under his proposals, which include moving them away from health-related benefits and onto a new "youth allowance" paid at the standard rate of universal credit.
When asked whether he agreed that some individuals should lose the welfare support they currently receive, he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show: "There will be people in the future who will not get what they would get today."
"When people come up for reassessment, they go on to a new system but, as I say, people are reassessed today under the current system."
Burnham Describes Report as 'Watershed' Moment
Andy Burnham has described the politically-sensitive report as a "watershed" moment, yet stopped short of committing to accepting its recommendations in their entirety. The Prime Minister also insisted that funding the reforms would not require "more money" but rather "spending differently" within Government, when pressed on the substantial upfront investment they are anticipated to demand.
Amid concerns over whether the Government would be able to secure the support of its own MPs for any changes it adopts, Mr McFadden argued that ministers must pursue reforms not "in spite of being Labour people", but "because we're Labour people".
"If you're 20 right now and you sign on to long-term sickness benefits, you've got more chance of marking your 30th birthday and still being on them than having a steady job in between," he said. "And the reason we have to change that isn't in spite of being Labour people, it's because we are Labour people."
'We Need a Complete Reset of the System'
He told Sky News' Sunday Morning show: "It's a different proposition from last year, and I hope that Parliament views it in that light. We need a complete reset of the system in terms of what it offers young people to get these numbers."
Mr Milburn stated it would take a decade to reach a "reasonable level" of Neets, warning that moving at a faster or harsher pace would simply result in "crude cuts" that leave young people appearing elsewhere on the Government's books. He said investment would likely run into the "billions" over this period, adding: "But what you get back is you get welfare savings back, and then you get the so-called fiscal benefits of young people not being reliant on a benefit but being paid a wage."
The former Labour health secretary, who was commissioned by Sir Keir Starmer's government to conduct the review after it was compelled to scale back its own welfare proposals in the face of a backbench rebellion, also argued that young people deserve a "legal guarantee" of work, training or employment support.
When asked whether this would mean young people gaining the right to take legal action if no opportunities were available to them, he told the BBC: "We're going to avoid that elephant trap, believe me. But we are going to have a duty on Government to provide opportunities. We're calling it the opportunity guarantee, so there should be a guarantee for a young person because at the moment the only guarantee they've got is to a very simple thing, to get a benefit."
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said the creation of a legal entitlement "might sound a nice thing to do" but "doesn't make sense". However, the Conservative frontbencher cautiously endorsed other aspects of Mr Milburn's approach, stating that his emphasis on moving away from "handing out cash for relatively mild conditions" and towards employment support was "the right direction of travel". "We think he should do it for all ages, not just under 25. You should not have different system for a 24-year-old and a 26-year-old," she told Sky.
