Prime Minister Andy Burnham has described Milburn’s forthcoming report as a “watershed moment,” but stopped short of committing to implementing its recommendations in full.
Burnham 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.
Asked whether he would accept the politically sensitive report in full, Burnham declined to provide that “blanket assurance”.
Speaking at the Welsh Labour conference on Saturday, Burnham said that the report addressed the “youth detachment” that has been on the rise since the pandemic.
“It can’t be right that we’ve stripped away support from young people as a society, as life is getting harder for them and growing up is getting more difficult,” he said.
The prime minister added that the government was also looking at a new vision for schooling that is “not focused solely on the university route” and which offers technical education alongside traditional academic learning.
Lord Blunkett, a former Labour home secretary, told the BBC that money from cutting benefits spending should be reassigned to supporting employment “at least in the immediate future”.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, he said reforms should focus on “transferring resource that currently goes into paying for failure, keeping youngsters at home, isolated, lonely, into actually putting the money in and the resource and the commitment in to making those jobs available”.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has previously said the government should not be spending “lots of time” on employment schemes, which she said would ultimately fail.
Her party and Reform UK have argued for significant cuts to welfare, including to fund a boost to defence.
Reform economy spokesman Robert Jenrick said: “This review is pointless unless we get action from Burnham straight away.
“It cannot be right that this continues for another 10 years before the youth benefits bill comes down.”
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said it was “disappointing” the Milburn review had “come up with the same tired conclusions” on youth unemployment.
Polanski added: “Using benefit sanctions to force young people into low-paid, insecure work doesn’t solve the structural inequalities they face, and it deepens poverty.”
The Liberal Democrats want the government to introduce a 100-hour work experience guarantee and a careers coach for every young person.
They believe this would equip youngsters with the best possible skills before they leave school.
The TUC – the umbrella group for unions in the UK – welcomed Milburn’s proposal of a legal guarantee as a “game changer”, describing the country’s number of Neets as a “national emergency”.
But it stressed that funding for additional support for young people should not come from public service budgets. “In further education, funding needs to be targeted at the workforce, as well as provision, to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis and massive pay disparities in the sector,” it said.
“A zero sum approach would be wrong and counter-productive.”