Andy Burnham has described Alan Milburn's forthcoming review of young people out of work and education as "quite a watershed moment", but has refused to promise that the government will accept all of its recommendations.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the Prime Minister said the report, due to be published next week, would have "big implications" for the welfare state and that Whitehall would need to discuss "reprioritising spending" to pay for it. Asked whether he would implement the findings in full, he said: "I can’t give you that blanket assurance."
The review, commissioned under Keir Starmer and published by the Department for Work and Pensions, addresses the roughly one million 16 to 24 year olds in the UK who are not in education, employment or training, known as Neets. The Office for National Statistics put the figure at 1.01 million for January to March 2026, up 89,000 on the year and the highest level in more than 12 years.
Milburn, a former Labour health secretary, has trailed his proposals in interviews with The Times and the Guardian this week. According to those reports, the review is expected to recommend that under-25s lose eligibility for personal independence payment (Pip) and the health element of Universal Credit, with a new youth allowance paid at the standard Universal Credit rate in their place.
Burnham said the government would respond to the report within days of its publication.
"It’s a wide-ranging report, and obviously we will set out our response next week. But I think it’s really important to see the report as quite a watershed moment in terms of how we think about supporting young people and supporting young people into work."
In a statement to the Guardian, Milburn said: "We need to tear up the old approach and start again for under-25s. A tweak to the benefits system just won’t do." He added: "We need a new system built around a young person with schools, the NHS and employers all working together to make sure that everyone has the chance to earn or learn."
He told The Times that reform would not be "pain-free". The Press Association reports that he will also recommend investing billions of pounds in careers support.
The proposals have drawn criticism from the Labour left before publication. Clive Lewis, the Labour MP who was part of the rebellion that forced Starmer's government to water down welfare reforms last year, told BBC Newsnight: "I don’t think this Government would have commissioned one of the most right-wing Blairite ministers that it ever had to oversee this. I think if you ask Alan Milburn to look at welfare, you kind of know what the answer is going to be – and he hasn’t disappointed."
He added: "I think Andy Burnham has no responsibility to do anything other than thank Alan Milburn for his work, look at this report, pick out the best bits, and then pick out the bits that we don’t want, push aside."
The New Economics Foundation has warned that the reforms "risk deepening poverty" if they are paired with welfare cuts. The disability charity Sense has also expressed reservations, according to ITV News.
Milburn's interim report, published on 28 May, found that nearly 60 per cent of young Neets were economically inactive rather than looking for work, and that six in 10 had never had a job, up from four in 10 in 2005. It estimated the cost to the economy of lost output and higher welfare spending at up to £125 billion a year.
The final report was held back until after the Budget on 28 October. Chancellor John Healey used the Budget to set out a timetable under which the government would respond by the end of the year, publish a White Paper early in 2027 and legislate later that year, according to Building magazine.
Sir Stephen Timms' review of Pip is expected to follow shortly after Milburn's report, ITV News reports. The ONS will publish its next Neet figures on 26 November.
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