Alan Milburn's Young People and Work review, commissioned by Labour to tackle Britain's Neets problem, proposes moving young people who are not genuinely sick off sickness benefits and into paid employment. The review targets the one million people aged 18 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training.
Milburn, a former Health Secretary under Tony Blair, has a track record of leading inquiries and commissions. His previous work includes the 2009 Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, the 2011–12 Fair Access to Professional Careers review, and the 2012–17 Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.
Previous reviews show limited success
The 2009 panel was appointed under Gordon Brown to investigate why careers in law, medicine, journalism and other professions were dominated by people from privileged backgrounds. The 2011–12 review criticised unpaid internships and recruitment from a narrow range of universities. The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission examined inequality and child poverty and whether successive governments were improving things.
Today Britain has 4 million children in child poverty, a 700,000 increase since Milburn's commission was set up. UNICEF found that Britain experienced the largest increase in relative child income poverty among 37 high-income countries between 2013 and 2023.
Proposed changes to benefits
Under the new proposals, young people would lose access to the health element of Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and be schooled into getting paid employment. Milburn admits the reforms will not be "pain-free".
The review comes amid concerns that Britain's benefits army is larger than the actual army, despite WW3 fears.
