Labour MPs have a moral responsibility to accept significant changes to the welfare system to help get more young people into work, the work and pensions secretary has said.
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secretary → have → work
In a sign he is looking to overhaul the welfare state, Pat McFadden said it was time for Labour to “renew” the system first created by the Clement Attlee government and given a new deal by New Labour.
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Labour → look → Labour
The cabinet minister said there would be “decisions to make and responsibilities to take” after two reviews of the system are published this autumn – on young people by Alan Milburn, and on a key disability benefit by the Timms panel.
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reviews → say → panel
He said Labour must decide “how we have a new system focused on opportunity, how we move from asking what are you entitled to, to asking how do we change your life …
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we → say → life
It falls to us, the party which did so much to create it, the party that holds it dear, to embrace the change needed.”
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it → fall → change
His speech is a sign that the government is preparing the ground again for changes to the welfare system after Keir Starmer’s government was forced to U-turn last year on a £5bn-a-year programme of disability benefit cuts in the face of a Labour backbench rebellion.
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government → prepare → rebellion
The revolt was fuelled by outrage that the plans would push hundreds of thousands of disabled people into poverty.
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plans → fuel → poverty
Andy Burnham, Starmer’s replacement as prime minister, has said he will not shy away from changing the system in a “Labour way” that helps people back into work, rather than putting a figure on trying to save money on the overall bill.
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that → say → bill
However, many charities supporting disabled people are nervous about the prospect of an overhauled system, after so many cuts in the past.
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charities → support → past
After the Timms and Milburn reviews conclude, the government is expected to design a new system and assessment process for disability benefits that is likely to require new legislation.
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that → conclude → legislation
It will also focus particularly on how to support younger people into jobs and training, building on the current “jobs guarantee” that funds employment placements for under-25s for six months, with disabled young people given fast-track access.
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people → focus → access
Officials have been looking to see whether elements of other countries’ benefit systems can be borrowed, such as the Netherlands, where youth hubs tackle unemployment, and Denmark, which restricts access to the country’s “disability pension” for the under-40s, who instead are given help with flexible jobs and training unless they permanently have no ability to work.
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they → look → ability
A million young people are now out of work, employment and training in the UK, and there has been a sharp rise in numbers of young people claiming disability benefits, particularly since the pandemic.
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people → claim → pandemic
This has prompted a political debate about the sustainability of working-age disability benefits spending, which is forecast to rise from £14bn in 2019 to £34bn in 2030.
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which → prompt → 2030
Some types of claim have particularly surged among young people.
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types → surge → people
About 205,000 16- to 24-year-olds received the personal independence payment (Pip) for disabilities linked to ADHD or autism in April this year, a more than threefold increase since 2019, at a cost in 2025-26 of £1.36bn.
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olds → receive → 1.36bn
McFadden said both the financial cost and the human cost of the system were “too high”.
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cost → say → system
The interim findings of the Timms review found that Pip was unfit for purpose and too often left vulnerable claimants feeling dehumanised and degraded.
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Pip → find → claimants
The benefit, which helps with the extra costs of disability, is non-means tested and not related to employment status.
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which → help → status
A panel is consulting on measures to overhaul the system, with input from disability organisations.
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panel → consult → organisations
Milburn’s interim report, published in May, made it clear young people diagnosed with lifelong complex needs who are never able to work must be protected by the benefit system.
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who → publish → system
But it also hinted that young people with less severe conditions, who could be supported to work, may see reductions in benefits.
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who → hint → benefits
In his speech, McFadden said it was a “moral crusade” to stop so many young people being trapped on disability benefits instead of being helped into work, saying: “A young person who signs on for sickness benefits when they are 20 is now more likely to reach the age of 30 and still be on them than to have held down a steady job in a single year in between.”
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they → say → between
He added: “And a young person left out of work is far more likely to die before their time than the friends they sat beside in school … this is shameful.
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this → add → school
We should not accept it.
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We → accept → it
We have to change it.”
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We → have → it
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