More than 40 of the UK’s leading charities have warned ministers against imposing tougher benefit sanctions or cuts on disabled young people, as the government considers how to encourage more young people into work.
The charities raised concerns that an imminent review of young people and work by Alan Milburn could bring in stricter eligibility rules for keeping disability benefits – or remove them altogether – as part of a wider plan to boost flagging youth job rates.
Nearly 1 million 16- to 24-year-olds in the UK are classed as Neet (not in employment, education or training). Milburn has warned this is economically unsustainable and disastrous for a generation of young people.
In their joint letter to Milburn and Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, charity leaders warn cutting support or bringing in sanctions risks pushing thousands of vulnerable youngsters deeper into poverty and further away from employment.
The charities fear that a previous Labour government proposal for the health element of universal credit to be removed for under-22s with a disability or long-term sickness, saving around £300m a year, may be resurrected.
Milburn – a former minister in the Tony Blair government – has made it clear England’s welfare, education and skills infrastructure needs to be overhauled but has so far refused to be drawn on whether he will recommend specific cuts to benefits.
However, his interim report, published in May, argued that state support was too focused on benefit support at the expense of practical programmes to help young people into work, inadvertently “trapping” them on benefits.
The report estimated that for every £1 spent on youth job support last year, £25 was spent on benefits for young people. This “clearly stacked” financial incentives “in favour of inactivity, not participation [in the job market]”, it said, with some young people able to achieve total benefit income of more than £2,000 a month.
It said failure to reform the benefits system alongside education and skills would result in “far too many young people spending far too long out of work or learning, poorer [job] prospects over time and a rising benefits bill”.
However, an analysis by the charity Scope suggests about half of households with an under-22 receiving the universal credit health element are already in poverty, which it said could rise to more than nine in 10 if support was removed.
About 184,000 young people aged 16-24 receive the universal credit health element. Charities say this is a cohort with multiple complex physical and mental health needs, not “mild” conditions.
The letter, whose signatories include Action for Children, Save the Children, Barnardo’s, Scope, Sense, Mind and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, says: “Change is needed. But this must be built around the principles of support and opportunity, rather than the failed punitive approaches of the past.
“Evidence shows that cutting benefits worsens health and deepens poverty, while strict conditionality and sanctions is particularly counterproductive and harmful for disabled people.”
The charities challenge claims, notably from Reform UK and the Conservatives, that social security budgets are out of control, pointing out that spending on working-age benefits will remain flat as a percentage of GDP over the remainder of the parliament.
Lucy Schonegevel, director of influencing at Action for Children, said: “Cutting benefits or ramping up sanctions will simply drive up poverty and push young people further away from work.
“If ministers want better outcomes for disabled young people, the evidence points to earlier intervention, tailored support and meaningful job and volunteering opportunities, not sanctions or cuts.”
Milburn told the Guardian earlier this week that specialist internships designed to secure work for young people with special educational needs should be put on “turbocharge” to help tackle the growing youth jobs crisis. He is also likely to call for primary schools to identify children at risk of becoming Neet aged 16.
Whitehall sources said no decision had been made on the proposal put forward in a 2025 green paper on removing the universal health element for those under 22. They said the issue was being looked at as part of the review.
A DWP spokesperson 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 £2.5bn 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.”
Any attempts to restrict disability benefits further could be met with resistance from Labour MPs who stopped the bulk of cuts proposed under Starmer, although the government has consulted more widely and worked with charities more since then. On Monday, Andy Burnham unveiled a policy of 24-hour free bus passes for disabled people, removing the previous time restrictions and enabling more people to have free travel to work.
Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP who helped lead the campaign against previous cuts to disability benefits, said: “It is vital that disabled young people are given the support they need in order to access work.
“We have to not only change the culture of employment to ensure that adjustments are made so disabled people can access work, but also recognise the challenges that are experienced by disabled young people and co-produce solutions and support to open up opportunities with them.”
