Milburn Review to Tell Under-25s: No More Sickness and Disability Benefits

The government-commissioned review recommends that under-25s can no longer claim the health element of universal credit or personal independence payment, according to the Times. Instead they would get an allowance paid at the same basic rate as universal credit. Some could qualify for a new 'additional cost allowance' covering day-to-day costs tied to their conditions, while those with more severe disabilities and unable to work would get a new benefit paid at a higher rate. The government is set to take the plans forward into legislation in the new year.

Milburn, a former Labour health secretary and MP from 1992 to 2010, was blunt about who pays. He said the plans would not be 'pain-free' and would hit both existing and new claimants. '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 told the Times. 'For young people, there's a different debate that we've got to resolve, which is whether the priority is their longer-term life chances or just their immediate shorter-term finances.'

The backdrop is grim. ONS data from April to June suggests just under one million young people in the UK are Neets — not in education, employment or training — a rise of 3% on the same period last year. Milburn has been tasked with cutting that figure, which stands at one in eight 18- to 24-year-olds. He said hundreds of thousands of young people are 'stuck in a benefit system that is trapping them in poverty, giving them no prospect of prosperity or a job'.

His fix pairs the cuts with billions in new employment support for young people: work placements, job subsidies and one-to-one personal advisers. It also comes with a stick — claimants could lose some benefits if they don't engage with the extra support. 'A deal isn't a deal unless there are potential consequences,' Milburn said. 'Entitlements and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin.'

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to back the recommendations, though they could prove controversial with Labour MPs who opposed welfare reform under his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer. The overhaul arrives with heavy political pressure to fund defence, yet Milburn says the new system 'will need significant investment' and involves 'rebuilding the system from scratch' — with savings potentially almost a decade away. A government spokesperson 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.'