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EXCLUSIVE: Young people will be moved off the main sickness and disability benefits under radical plans to overhaul the welfare state and invest billions of pounds more in employment support. Alan Milburn, who has spent the past year conducting a review into the one million people aged 18-24 who are not in education, employment or training, said he had concluded that the system needed to be rebuilt “from scratch” to stop people being trapped on benefits “in perpetuity” In an interview with The Times, the former health secretary acknowledged that the plans would not be “pain-free” as some people would lose out on financial support. However, he said reforming the system offered the best chance of young people finding work and building a “good life” Under Milburn’s plans, young people would no longer be able to claim the two main sickness and disability benefits: the health element of universal credit and the personal independence payment (Pip). They would instead move on to a new “youth allowance”, paid at the same level as the standard rate of universal credit Many of those who receive Pip, designed to cover additional costs faced by those with a disability, will move on to a new “additional cost allowance”, which will cover day-to-day costs relating to their conditions. Like Pip, it would not be means tested, or linked to whether claimants were in work. Fewer people are likely to be entitled to it Those with the most profound disabilities who are not capable of working would be given a new benefit, paid at a higher rate Milburn will recommend investing billions in employment support, including one-to-one personal advisers, work placements and job subsidies, resulting in young people being presented with a “menu of options” to help them find work “I’m not saying that any of this will be easy, or that it will be pain-free, because it won’t,” Milburn said. “Candidly, it could mean that some people will get less financial support at the beginning of their benefit claim than under the current system. But actually, 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 “I think what the current system does [is] it prioritises the latter over the former. I believe that’s the wrong choice and it needs to be the other way around “The approach I’ve taken on this is to try to define what would give young people the best chance of building a good life, not just over a year or two, but over the course of their lifetimes.” The changes would apply to to both existing and new claimants In exchange for greater employment support, there would be an element of conditionality — if people did not engage with the system, they could lose some of their benefits “A deal isn’t a deal unless there are potential consequences,” Milburn said. “Entitlements and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin.” The plans will require “significant investment” upfront, with savings realised over a decade plus thetimes.com/article/971613c…