Alan Milburn, the former Labour minister currently leading a government review into youth unemployment, has called for a "tough love" approach to young people on benefits, arguing the current system amounts to "a total state failure". He told The Times that those on health and disability benefits who are capable of working should face an "obligation" to accept employment support, backed by a "duty to engage" and, ultimately, a "backstop" of reduced benefits for those who repeatedly refuse to participate, as a last resort. His comments come as separate proposals from Education Secretary Lucy Powell push for a shake-up of vocational education from age 14.

Official figures published in May showed the number of 16 to 24-year-olds not in work or education surpassed one million for the first time since 2013, reaching 1.01 million in the first quarter of the year, with Milburn's interim report warning this could rise to one in six young people by 2031. He pointed to the Netherlands, where a similar benefits "backstop" is in place and the NEET rate is 4.8%, compared with 13.6% in the UK, while insisting young people are not "lazy" or "snowflakes" but frustrated and aspirational. Powell separately said she wants reformed Ofsted standards to support new "high quality" vocational qualifications alongside academic study, rejecting the idea of a two-tier schooling system.