Andy Burnham urged to reject profit cuts and harder sanctions to repair ‘Neets’ disaster
In a letter to the government today, more than 40 charities urge the government to focus on support and opportunity instead of “the failed punitive approaches of the past”
Andy Burnham has previously dismissed ‘crude’ cuts to benefits(Image: Hannah McKay/Pool Reuters via AP)
Andy Burnham’s government must reject benefit cuts or harsher sanctions as part of a major review into the ‘Neets’ crisis, a coalition of charities have warned.
In a letter to the government today Labour ministers are being urged to focus on support and opportunity instead of “the failed punitive approaches of the past”.
It comes as ex-Labour Cabinet minister Alan Milburn prepares to publish his recommendations in the autumn on tackling the one million 18-24-year-olds not in employment, education, or training (Neet). He warned earlier this year the number of Neets could rise to 1.25million without government action.
The letter from over 40 organisations, including Action for Children, Sense, and food bank charity Trussell, warns against punitive measures. Addressed to DWP chief Pat McFadden, it says Mr Milburn has rightly identified, “too many young people are being let down by systems that intervene too late and offer too little”.
But they warn: “Evidence shows that cutting benefits worsens health and deepens poverty, while strict conditionality and sanctions is particularly counterproductive and harmful for disabled people.”
As part of last year’s welfare reforms, ex-PM Keir Starmer’s government proposed removing the health element of Universal Credit for all under 22-year-olds.
The charities add: “There are 184,000 young people aged 16-24 receiving the Universal Credit health element across the UK, representing just 6% of all recipients.
“These are young people with severe and complex needs, often living with multiple physical and mental health conditions and overlapping disadvantages including poverty, homelessness and childhood trauma.”
Instead, the charities call for improved access to mental health support and strengthening the ‘right to try guarantee’. This allows disabled young people to try work or volunteering without the fear of losing access to their benefits.
During his first month in office, Mr Burnham ruled out “crude cuts” to benefits but promised to “get really serious” about reducing the welfare bill. He said young people had been “quite seriously let down” by a lack of support into work, and indicated he wanted to “increase the conditions required to receive benefits”
A DWP spokesman said: “We want to see the potential of young people up and down this country fully realised, whether that be through education, training or work.
“We are pushing ahead with the biggest youth employment reforms in a generation to create almost a million opportunities for young people and our wider £2.5 billion youth employment support package includes a new apprenticeship bursary for families on Universal Credit.
“We have also commissioned Alan Milburn to investigate the barriers stopping young people from getting into work and look forward to receiving his final report in the autumn.”
The charities’ warning also follows new figures from Milburn’s review on Tuesday on the Neets crisis. New polling of 2,180 UK adults showed half of people believe that young people today have fewer opportunities than previous generations, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.
It also found just 27% said success depends on hard work while 22% said it depends on who someone knows – or their family background. Just 5% said it was based on talent.
Mr Milburn said: “More and more people believe hard work is not rewarded. That undermines the promise that has been at the heart of our country’s social contract – that if you put in effort, you will be able to get ahead, and that each generation should do better than the last. That promise is being broken. What I hear from young people themselves time and again confirms it.
“There’re too few apprenticeships, too few entry-level jobs, and too few chances to get on the first rung of the career ladder. It is not a shortage of effort that is holding back Britain’s young people. It is a shortage of support and opportunity. That is not sustainable and has to change.
“We have to restore the promise that hard work pays off. That means backing the next generation. They hold the key to Britain’s future.”
The latest data, published earlier this year, showed the number of people aged between 16 and 24 and not in employment, education or training rose to 1.01 million in the three months from January to March.
