Young people to lose disability benefits as welfare system is 'rebuilt from scratch'

Young people are set to lose access to disability benefits under the Milburn Review.

Alan Milburn, a former Labour Health Secretary, has revealed what the long-awaited second part of his review into the welfare system will say.

Adults under 25 would no longer be able to claim two disability benefits, the health element of Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments (Pip), under his proposals.

He told The Times that after hundreds of interviews and dozens of visits, he concluded the "whole system needs to be changed".

Mr Milburn added that the current welfare system "is geared to keeping people inactive", but young people in particular need to be active, learning, and earning.

He added: "So, this is not about cutting one benefit, it's about rebuilding the system from scratch."

The former Health Secretary hopes his proposed reforms will get the more than one million people aged between 18 and 24 who are not in education, employment or training (Neets) back into work.

But he admitted that reworking welfare to cut Britain's ballooning benefits bill would not be "pain-free".

"You know, candidly, it could mean that some people will get less financial support at the beginning of their benefit claim than under the current system," he said.

Young people who receive disability benefits would instead receive a new "youth allowance", paid at the same level as the standard rate of Universal Credit.

And many disabled people who receive Pip would be given a new "additional cost allowance", which would cover day-to-day costs relating to their conditions.

This allowance would not be means-tested, or linked to whether claimants were in work.

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Mr Milburn has previously stressed the importance of employment support amid reports the Government spends 50 times more on benefits than helping Britons back to work.

He will recommend that billions be invested in one-to-one personal advisers, work placements, and job subsidies in an effort to provide Neets a "menu of options" to find work.

"We need to make sure people have the opportunities to get an apprenticeship, a job, a work placement, a pre-apprenticeship, a college place," he said.

But if young people fail to take up employment support, they could lose benefits, similar to other countries in Europe.

He said: "What we should do is give young people the best opportunity to earn and learn, rather than immediately going on to a health benefit.

"We can't go on like this, not least because under the current system [people] stay in poverty often for decades and sometimes in perpetuity."

Disability charity Sense said it supports efforts to give more young disabled people the opportunity to work while protecting those who cannot.

But director of influencing Harriet Edwards said that without "proper funding for specialist employment support", some young disabled people "could lose out".

A Government spokesman said: "We will always ensure there is a safety net for the most vulnerable and those who are unable to work.

"But the Prime Minister has been clear that we need a wholesale change in the way we support young people to grow up in this country, where we invest in their success rather than paying for failure."