Andy Burnham is being urged to consider changes to the welfare system to help fund employment support for young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
Alan Milburn, the former Cabinet minister advising the Government on the issue, said funding should be redistributed from welfare spending towards programmes that help young people find work.
Speaking to The Guardian, Milburn argued that the current system was not working effectively for younger people and called for employment assistance, mental health services and benefits support to be better integrated.
“We’ve got to have a different conversation about the welfare system, it just isn’t working for young people,” he said.
“We need to redistribute money from the welfare system to more employment support if we are going to end the NEET crisis.”
Milburn is expected to present a series of recommendations in a report due after the Budget.
Burnham Promises Support and Employment Opportunities
Writing in The Times, Burnham said he would take Milburn’s recommendations seriously, describing the number of young people outside education and work as “an economic catastrophe and a moral failure”.
He said the Government faced a choice between investing in young people’s success and paying for the consequences of unemployment through the benefits system.
“We either invest in the success of our young people or pay for failure through the benefits system. We cannot afford to do both,” Burnham wrote.
He pledged that young people would receive support at the outset, including access to technical education, work placements, apprenticeships and the skills needed to secure employment.
Burnham also promised timely mental health support, alongside an expectation that young people would take up the opportunities made available to them.
“Benefits will become the backstop, not the starting point,” he wrote.
He said the system should focus first on young people’s ambitions and the assistance required to achieve them, rather than beginning with an assessment of their entitlement to benefits.
Nearly One Million Young People Outside Work or Education
Official figures show that an estimated 981,000 people aged between 16 and 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training between April and June this year.
The figure represents approximately one in eight people in that age group.
The Government has pledged to address the issue through measures intended to expand access to employment, training and apprenticeships.
Milburn said reducing welfare expenditure over the medium term could be possible, but argued that this would require greater investment in support services and more opportunities for young people.
He said providing assistance to help young people take advantage of available opportunities would be essential to reducing the number relying on benefits.
Government Announces Apprenticeships and Industry Placements
The Government is due to publish a series of employment plans for key sectors throughout the week, beginning with professional services and construction.
Under the plans, accountancy, legal services and consultancy firms will make 22,400 apprenticeships available annually for people under 25.
Construction companies have also agreed to provide an additional 40,000 placements.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the commitments would help young people access apprenticeships, training and employment.
“Too many young people have been locked out of opportunities for too long,” McFadden said.
He welcomed the involvement of additional industries, saying the opportunities would allow young people to develop the skills, training and experience needed to succeed in growing sectors of the economy.
Conservatives Blame Labour for Youth Employment Problems
The Conservatives have criticised Labour’s approach, arguing that higher employment costs and additional regulation have made it more difficult for businesses to recruit young workers.
Shadow business secretary Julia Lopez said Labour’s policies had damaged opportunities for young people seeking to enter the workforce.
“Their tax hikes and red tape have made it harder for businesses to hire, invest and grow, destroying opportunities for young people looking to take their first step on the career ladder,” Lopez said.
She added that the Government was attempting to address the consequences of its own policies after increasing costs for employers and placing additional regulatory demands on businesses.
Welfare Reform Proposals Could Face Opposition
The proposal to redirect welfare funding towards employment support could prove contentious within Labour, following previous opposition from Labour MPs to Keir Starmer’s proposed welfare reforms.
Milburn’s forthcoming report is expected to set out recommendations for tackling the NEET crisis, including changes to how employment support and benefits are delivered.
The Government’s plans will focus on providing young people with more routes into work while establishing expectations that they engage with the opportunities offered to them.
