PM: Benefits will be ‘backstop’ under ‘generational’ Neets reform

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The Prime Minister said Government spending will shift away from ‘paying for failure’ and towards ‘investing in success’.

Andy Burnham has promised “generational” reform with benefits as “the backstop, not the starting point” for young people ahead of the publication of a major review into youth unemployment.

The Prime Minister said Government spending will shift away from “paying for failure” and towards “investing in success” with intervention throughout childhood to help those falling behind.

Amid concerns among some Labour MPs about the extent of future support, Mr Burnham argued that any country focused on the future should make young people “the priority for investment – not the target for cuts”.

But he said this would come with “responsibilities”, writing in an op-ed for the Guardian: “If we give young people genuine opportunities to learn, train and work, we should expect them to take them where they can.

“Benefits must become the backstop, not the starting point. The system will no longer begin by establishing which benefits a young person is entitled to receive.

“It will understand their ambitions and identify the help they need to achieve them.”

It comes ahead of the release of Alan Milburn’s independent report on 16 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training (Neets), the number of whom topped a million earlier this year, on Tuesday.

He has also insisted paying for the reforms would not mean “more money” but “spending differently” in Government when pressed on the large upfront investment they are expected to require.

“For too long, we have waited until young people reach adulthood and then tried to deal with the problems that have built up over the years. Under this Government, we will start much earlier, making sure children have the support they need at the moments that matter most,” he said.

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