Taxpayer-funded youth jobs scheme to be expanded in bid to tackle Neets rise

A taxpayer-funded scheme aimed at helping young people into work will be expanded to include under-25s who have been claiming benefits for a year, the Government has announced.Every eligible 18 to 24-year-old will be “guaranteed” a fully-funded, six-month job matched to their skills after 12 months on universal credit – down from the current 18 months, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said.Under the scheme, which will be rolled out nationwide from the end of November, the Government funds up to 25 hours of paid work a week at the relevant minimum wage.The reduction in the length of time a benefit claimant waits before becoming eligible for the programme will come into force in April next year, officials said.Alan Milburn (left) will release his long-awaited review of youth unemployment on TuesdayPA WireIt comes after the author of a major forthcoming report on tackling the rise in youth unemployment said they deserve a legal “guarantee” of a route into work.Alan Milburn, whose recommendations will be published on Tuesday, told the BBC that the Government should have a duty to ensure young people have access to either training, work or employment support.He suggested this might work similarly to the way that local councils have a legal responsibility to offer accommodation or advice to the homeless, or accommodate children in care.The former Labour health secretary said previous employment schemes have been temporary and do not go far enough to tackle the problem of young people not in education, employment or training.The DWP’s existing scheme is called the “jobs guarantee” but does not include a legal duty. Officials have said funding for the programme comes from the Government’s wider £2.5 billion employment support package.Mr Milburn’s review will make a number of recommendations on how to curb the number of Neets – 18 to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training – which topped a million earlier this year for the first time in more than a decade.He is expected to call for under-25s to no longer be able to claim the health element of universal credit or personal independence payments, moving them instead to a “youth allowance”, paid at the same level as the standard rate of universal credit.Read MoreSome Labour MPs – who last year pressured Sir Keir Starmer’s government to water down proposed welfare cuts – have voiced concerns over the extent of future support after Mr Milburn suggested some could receive fewer benefits.Ahead of its publication, Andy Burnham has described the report as a “watershed moment” but stopped short of committing to implementing its recommendations in full.The Prime Minister 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.Meanwhile, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said young people with a disability or health condition must accept that “this doesn’t always rule out work”.“Many employers, large and small, want to give people a chance and make the adjustments needed,” he told the Telegraph.He said his department had also signed a deal with the Tourism Alliance, the trade body for the UK visitor economy, aimed at creating 50,000 jobs for Neets in this Parliament, with work experience as a way into those jobs.Announcing the expansion of the youth jobs scheme, Mr McFadden said: “The longer someone is out of work, the harder it is to get back in, and no young person should be left waiting on a scrapheap for an opportunity.“That is why we are expanding our guaranteed jobs scheme across Great Britain and bringing it forward, so that help arrives when it matters most.“Employers are crying out for talent and there is a generation of talent ready to be unleashed. We are backing them with the support they need to build a fulfilling future.”The Tories said the test of Mr Milburn’s review would be whether it paves the way for “real jobs”, arguing that “shuffling more young people onto subsidised placements will not solve the underlying problem”.Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “The Government is making it harder for businesses to take people on, then bringing in schemes to deal with the consequences.“Our rescue mission for young people will create the jobs they need by halving the jobs tax, cutting business rates for 250,000 high street businesses and generating 100,000 apprenticeships a year.“Alan Milburn is right that the system needs to change. We’ve found £36 billion in welfare savings and will support the reforms that genuinely help people.“But young people do not need another Government scheme that leaves them waiting. They need businesses in the private sector to have the confidence to create jobs and give them a first chance.”Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said the expansion showed that Labour was “treating the symptoms of its youth unemployment crisis rather than tackling the causes”.“Young people deserve real support to get themselves onto the career ladder, not another government-funded waiting room,” she said.The Liberal Democrats said the six-month offering was worth “very little” without a job at the end of it.Steve Darling, the party’s work and pensions spokesman, said: “Shifting the focus towards real work opportunities is the right instinct, but why should a young person have to wait a full year on benefits to receive the employment support?“The warning signs are there long before a young person leaves school, and that’s when we need to act.“Our plan would shut off the Neets pipeline at the source, with 100 hours of work experience before 18 and a five-year plan for every school leaver.”