Milburn review on young people and work expected next week
An independent review into young people and work, led by former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn, is expected in the week after 9 November 2026. Ministers expected the review to recommend welfare cuts to fund job support for almost a million young people who are NEET, meaning not in education, employment or training.
The review grew out of an inquiry the government launched in November 2025 into rising youth inactivity. The investigation focuses on preventing young people from becoming trapped out of work, education or training.
The scale of the problem has been widely reported. The UK youth jobless rate reached 16.1% in the last three months of 2025, a 10-year high, according to Reuters. Earlier, Milburn's report blamed the welfare system for "exacerbating inactivity" among young people, Reuters reported in May.
The publication of the review was delayed until after the budget. According to the Guardian, there were fears that its call for welfare cuts would sit uneasily with the tax and spending plans of Chancellor John Healey.
Andy Burnham described the rise in NEET young people as an "economic catastrophe and a moral failure." He said tougher benefits rules and more help for young people would form part of his government's response to the Milburn report.
Employers are expected to play a central role. Milburn said they are "absolutely critical" to fixing the youth unemployment crisis. Amazon, Pret a Manger, NatWest, Marks & Spencer and Shell have backed a Jobs Foundation pledge to support young people. The Jobs Foundation was co-founded by Conservative peer Matthew Elliott. Polling by Focaldata for the group ranked the youth jobs crisis second only to the cost of living among the biggest problems facing Britain, ahead of NHS waiting lists, housing, crime and immigration.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), urged against looking for "scapegoats" or "easy answers" ahead of the review. He said the government had a once-in-a-generation chance to secure young people's futures. Nowak argued that the costs of expanding job support, education and training would be outweighed by economic gains that would ease pressure on the welfare state. He said fixing the problem would require ministers to drastically increase investment in employment support while avoiding arbitrary cuts to benefits.
The TUC has also put a figure on one of the options it favours. It estimated that scaling up the government's jobs guarantee scheme, which offers subsidised jobs for young people, to 225,000 places would deliver almost £4.6 billion in long-run benefits. The TUC has further stated that the Milburn Review confirms the NEET crisis is a long-term structural problem, not a result of workers' rights or higher pay.
In December 2025, the government announced an £820 million funding package to provide learning or employment opportunities for almost one million young people.
