Concerns over Neets plan amid fears young disabled people ‘could lose out’

Áine Fox, Helen Corbett, Nina Lloyd and Ian Jones, Press Association

Campaigners have expressed concern and worry about proposals to bar under-25s from claiming two main sickness and disability benefits, with a Labour MP casting doubt as to whether she could vote for cuts.

Ahead of his report on youth unemployment next week, former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn has acknowledged the changes he will recommend will not be “pain-free”, with some young people likely to lose out on financial support under his plans.

A one-time Labour health secretary, Mr Milburn was commissioned under former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer to review the issue of so-called Neets – 16 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training – which topped a million earlier this year for the first time in more than a decade.

Mr Milburn has previously warned the figure could rise to one in six by 2031, representing 1.25 million young people, and estimated the crisis is costing the UK around £125 billion a year – taking in factors including losses in taxes alongside higher health and welfare spending.

Statistics out earlier this month also showed just under half (45.3%) of Neets were classed as disabled in the year to March – a proportion which has more than doubled in just over a decade.

Mr Milburn has promised his report will recommend a “big rewriting of the welfare system”, with The Times reporting it will suggest under-25s should no longer be able to claim the health element of universal credit (UC) or personal independence payments (Pip).

They would instead get a new youth allowance paid at the standard rate of universal credit.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said while he had not yet seen the full recommendations, the Government has already ruled out “crude cuts”.

He told the BBC’s Radio Four Today programme: “We’ve been very clear that we are not going to deliver savings through crude cuts that will only push people into hardship, that will cause pressures in the system more widely. We’re not going to go down that road.”

He also promised “there will always be a safety net for the most vulnerable, for those who genuinely can’t work”.

But charities representing disabled people have voiced concern at how Mr Milburn’s proposals might work.

Chrystyna Chymera-Holloway, from the National Autistic Society, said the plan will “live or die on the sequencing”.

She told the Press Association: “Jobs and support to get into those jobs have to exist, and bespoke autism support to get into jobs has to exist before any changes that remove vital funds from people. That is the crucial underpinning of the success of any new system.”

Some 268,965 Pip claimants were classed as having autistic spectrum disorders as of July 31 2026, according to data published in September by the Department for Work and Pensions.

This is up from 79,395 in January 2019 when data began, according to Press Association analysis.

James Taylor, executive director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said the proposals trailed so far are “concerning”.

He added: “Pip can be a lifeline, helping to cover extra costs like paying for taxis when transport is inaccessible, whether someone is in work or not.

“We’d urge the Government to tread carefully in its response. Restricting access to Pip won’t make young disabled people’s extra costs disappear.”

George Bangham, head of social policy at the New Economics Foundation, warned the Government “must avoid ‘crude cuts’ to the benefits system which would push people further into poverty – and won’t create jobs where they don’t exist”.

He added that they “should reject the false choice between funding employment support and funding benefits”.

Disability charity Sense said it is “deeply concerned that, if these proposals are taken forward without proper funding for specialist employment support alongside welfare changes, some young disabled people could lose out”.

Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who was part of a rebellion which forced the Government to abandon proposed welfare reforms in summer 2025, expressed doubt as to whether she would be able to vote for the proposals set out so far, telling Today: “I am not sure I could vote for cuts unless it’s very clear what we’re voting on.”

She said she does not believe “you get a disabled young person into work by taking away the money that helps them to get into work”, noting that Pip is not an out-of-work benefit.

She said: “This report was meant to be all about young people out of work, you know the Neets, as we call them, but the cuts seem to land on young disabled people, and many of them are in college already or already at work. I don’t see how you fix the first by punishing the second.”

Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan, who also rebelled over the 2025 proposed welfare reforms, said there was not enough information in the public yet to say whether he could back the proposals.

Asked whether young people facing any reduction in their benefits should have another source of income guaranteed in its place beforehand, he told PA: “Absolutely.

“And what if the employment doesn’t work out. Does the individual start over again?”

He also questioned whether Department for Work and Pensions staff would have the resources and skills to deliver the employment support programme Mr Milburn was suggesting.

Mr Milburn told the Times: “I’m not saying that any of this will be easy or that it will be pain-free, because it won’t.

“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.”

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said an overhaul to the benefits system will require the Government to “invest up front in young people”.

Under Mr Milburn’s plans, employment support would be expanded, including young people having a personal adviser to coach them.

He said: “The adviser will stick with them until they have found a job or an apprenticeship or college place.”

Many people receiving Pip will be moved on to a new benefit called the “additional cost allowance” to help with costs relating to their disability, while those with disabilities that mean they can never be expected to work would be given a new benefit targeted to a smaller cohort, The Times reported.