Milburn calls for legal job guarantee for young people

Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 14 Nov, 16:32 · Archive

Alan Milburn's review of youth unemployment will recommend a legal guarantee of a job or training for young people.

Alan Milburn, the former Labour health secretary, has told the BBC that young people should have a legal guarantee of a job, training or employment support. His recommendations will form part of a major review into youth unemployment to be published on Tuesday. The review will address the situation of so-called Neets – 16 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training – whose numbers topped a million earlier this year for the first time in more than a decade.

Millburn described the proposal as an 'opportunity guarantee'. He said: 'It should be a guarantee for a young person. Because at the moment the only guarantee they've got is a very simple thing. To get a benefit. What sort of life is that?' Young people who refuse to take up the help could lose their benefits, he said.

The former minister 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 currently 25 times as much as spending on employment support, and believes the ratio should shift to two to one. He 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.'

Millburn said the government is already spending £22bn a year supporting young people who are economically inactive, and that money needs to be spent differently. He acknowledged that some young people would lose out on benefits under the new system, arguing the focus should be on helping people into work rather than keeping them dependent on welfare.

According to Milburn, the proposal might work similarly to the way local councils have a legal responsibility to offer accommodation or advice to the homeless. A guarantee already exists for apprenticeships or training places, but only after young people have been unemployed for 18 months. Previous employment schemes have been temporary, which Milburn said explains why the Neet rate has barely fallen below 10 per cent in 25 years.

The TUC welcomed the proposal as a 'game-changer' but argued that new support for young people should not come at the expense of wider public services. Milburn will present his full recommendations to the Cabinet on Tuesday.

How it is being reported

• Young people should have legal guarantee of jobs or training, Milburn saysAlan Milburn described his proposal as an ‘opportunity guarantee’The Independent · 14 Nov, 15:49
• Young people deserve legal guarantee of job or training says Alan Milburn but will lose benefits if they say no - as Labour die-hards prepare to rebelThe former Labour health secretary's (left) review into youth unemployment is set to be published next week.Daily Mail · 14 Nov, 11:46
• Alan Milburn says Andy Burnham must make job or training offers for young people legal guaranteeThe recommendation will form a central part of Alan Milburn’s long-awaited report into tackling the almost one million 18-24-year-olds not in education, employment or trainingThe Mirror · 14 Nov, 10:05
• Young people should have legal guarantee to job or training, says MilburnSpeaking to the BBC, Alan Milburn also calls for a radical shift in government spending away from benefits for young people.BBC News · 14 Nov, 06:00

In this story: Alan Milburn · Andy Burnham · TUC

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