Youth welfare review proposes a new support guarantee as paid-job scheme expands
Britain is preparing for a far-reaching argument over youth employment and welfare as Alan Milburn's review approaches publication on Tuesday,17 November. Nearly a million people under 25 are outside education, employment or training. The former Labour minister is proposing a permanent system of help, with a legal duty to offer young people a route into work, an apprenticeship, training or appropriate health support. The recommendations are proposals, not benefit rules already in force.
Milburn wants a major transfer of resources from cash benefits towards employment services. He says spending on young people's benefits is 25 times spending on employment support and wants a ratio closer to two to one. His approach includes ending access for under-25s to Personal Independence Payment and the health component of Universal Credit, alongside much larger provision of further education, training, health help and subsidised jobs. He accepts that some young people would lose payments or receive less; the precise costs and implementation details remain to be published.
The intended legal guarantee would place responsibility on public bodies, potentially councils or mayors, rather than promise every individual the particular job they want. The review covers the UK, although arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would require further work. Milburn says ministers, the chancellor and Prime Minister Andy Burnham have been kept informed. He also acknowledges that the changes would require substantial money initially and could take a decade to reduce the benefits bill significantly.
Milburn puts the annual cost of youth inactivity at £22 billion. Separately, Liberal Democrat research estimates that the number outside education, employment or training could reach 1.26 million by 2031 without action. That is a forecast under an unchanged-policy scenario, not a current headcount. In Merseyside, where Milburn discussed his plans, 14.5% of 16-to-24-year-olds are unemployed. The Conservatives have proposed halving employer National Insurance for young people and creating 100,000 apprenticeships; those are opposition proposals, not measures enacted through this review.
Political disagreement concerns both the depth and speed of change. Conservatives support cutting benefits but favour their own employer National Insurance and apprenticeship measures; Reform wants faster savings, while the Greens have criticised the emerging proposals as cruel. Within Labour, one important unresolved question is whether reduced payments would apply to existing claimants or only future applicants. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has been briefing MPs ahead of the report. The government's final decisions and any legislation are still to come.
Paid placements across Great Britain
Separately, the government has announced that its Jobs Guarantee will expand across England, Scotland and Wales from the end of November, following trials in six areas. It aims to help more than 90,000 young people by March 2029. Eligible 18-to-24-year-olds claiming Universal Credit and looking for work can receive a six-month placement, with government funding for up to 25 hours a week at the applicable minimum wage and support before and during employment. This is not an unconditional guarantee for every young person.
From April 2027, the waiting period for eligible claimants is to fall from 18 months to 12 months; eligible recipients of Universal Credit's health element may participate voluntarily. The department says more than 400 employers have backed the scheme. Unions, disability charities and employment organisations welcomed the wider access while stressing that placements must overcome real barriers and lead towards lasting work. The existing scheme's expansion and Milburn's much wider proposed welfare overhaul are related developments, but are not the same policy decision.
The Jobs Guarantee sits within a wider £2.5 billion youth-employment package intended to support nearly a million young people and create 500,000 opportunities. The department describes a sequence of help: work-coach support and youth hubs from the start, access after six months to roles supported by a £3,000 employer hiring payment, then a guaranteed job for those meeting the qualifying period. Employers are expected to provide suitable roles with ongoing support; care provider Cera has pledged more than 1,000 care jobs through its own linked scheme. The announcement describes planned opportunities, not proof that all those jobs have already been filled.