The initiative targets the £22 billion spent every year on economically inactive youth by shifting the funding balance away from direct welfare payments and toward career pathways. Milburn recommends barring under-25s from health-related Universal Credit elements and personal independence payments to incentivize work. Although the government plans to introduce draft legislation early next year, officials have stopped short of committing to every proposed recommendation.
Key points
The recommendations aim to shift current welfare spending to a two-to-one ratio between b…: The recommendations aim to shift current welfare spending to a two-to-one ratio between benefits and active career support.
Ministers plan to respond to the unemployment review with a formal parliamentary statemen…: Ministers plan to respond to the unemployment review with a formal parliamentary statement and draft legislation early next year.
Opposition parties remain divided, with proposed solutions ranging from career coaches to…: Opposition parties remain divided, with proposed solutions ranging from career coaches to an outright rejection of state employment schemes.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
- Published
Young people should have a legal guarantee of a job, training or employment support, the author of a major review of youth unemployment has told the BBC.
Alan Milburn, the former Labour minister whose proposals on welfare and young people will be unveiled on Tuesday, said those who refuse to take up the help could lose their benefits.
In an interview to be broadcast on Sunday, Milburn called for a radical shift in government spending away from benefits for young people to measures that support them into work.
He claims spending on benefits for young people is 25 times as much as spending on employment support, and believes the ratio should shift to two to one.
That would mean significant cuts to benefit spending and significant extra taxpayers' cash for training, education or other forms of support.
Milburn said "the pendulum's swung far too far from the one to the other - £25 to one, and we can take everything to £2 to one".
He added: "To do that, we've got to invest, less in benefits, so we've…
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