Andy Burnham is preparing for a difficult week as he tries to win over Labour MPs who oppose plans to overhaul welfare and move more young people from benefits into employment.
The Prime Minister is expected to address a private meeting of Labour MPs on Tuesday morning, urging them to support Alan Milburn’s review of youth unemployment before its proposals are formally brought before the Commons.
Mr Milburn is expected to recommend billions of pounds in initial investment to help young people into work. The funding would be partly offset by reducing sickness payments and other benefits.
The review will set out proposals to reduce the number of so-called ‘Neets’—16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training. Their number passed one million earlier this year, the first time it has reached that level in more than a decade.
On Saturday, Mr Milburn suggested introducing a legally binding ‘opportunity guarantee’, under which every 16- to 24-year-old would be offered work, training or employment support.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: ‘It should be a guarantee for a young person. Because at the moment, the only guarantee they’ve got is a very simple thing—to get a benefit. What sort of a life is that?’
The proposals have prompted serious concern among Labour’s Left, particularly over the possibility that young people already receiving state support could see their payments reduced. Some MPs fear the changes could leave disabled people who are unable to work financially worse off.
One senior Labour MP told The Mail on Sunday on Saturday night: ‘I suspect this will only go ahead if it applies to future claimants—not those young people currently claiming benefits. In the end, I think Burnham will have to compromise on this—it’s the only fair way.’
Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke during the Welsh Labour conference 2026 at the Venue Cymru, Llandudno, on Saturday
However, allies of the Prime Minister have warned that limiting the changes to future claimants would result in ‘years more delay’ before any savings were achieved.
In a BBC interview due to be broadcast on Sunday, Mr Milburn argues that spending on benefits for young people is currently 25 times higher than investment in employment support.
He said that ratio would need to fall from 25-to-one to somewhere between two-to-one and one-to-one.
‘To do that, we’ve got to invest less in benefits, so we’ve got to be paying out less in benefits,’ he said.
Speaking at the Welsh Labour conference on Saturday, the Prime Minister said Labour could ‘do better’ for the many young people who feel ‘lost in their 20s’ and believe benefits are their only option.
But last week he stopped short of giving a ‘blanket assurance’ that every one of Mr Milburn’s recommendations would be adopted in full.
Meanwhile, outspoken Labour backbencher Clive Lewis warned that a ‘large number’ of colleagues would struggle to support the plan. He said: ‘We didn’t come into politics to cut from the most vulnerable young disabled people.’
Despite the opposition, Labour managers are understood to believe any rebellion can be contained, with only a limited number of MPs on the party’s Left expected to vote against the proposals.
Former health secretary Alan Milburn speaks to the media on the publication of the interim Milburn Report into Young People and Work, at West Library Youth Employment Hub, north London, in May
The Conservatives set out five tests for the Milburn review on Sunday night, including whether it would reduce the cost to businesses of creating genuine jobs for young people rather than taxpayer-funded positions.
The programme developed by Mr Milburn, who is no longer an MP, is expected to be presented to the Commons on Tuesday by Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden.
Mr McFadden’s department announced on Saturday night that more than 90,000 18- to 24-year-olds claiming Universal Credit and seeking work will be guaranteed a fully funded six-month job matched to their skills by March 2029.
The Job Guarantee scheme previously operated in six areas with some of the highest unemployment rates. It will now be extended across England, Scotland and Wales.
Mr McFadden said: ‘The longer someone is out of work, the harder it is to get back in, and no young person should be left waiting on a scrapheap for an opportunity.
‘That is why we are expanding our guaranteed jobs scheme across Great Britain and bringing it forward, so that help arrives when it matters most.
‘Employers are crying out for talent, and there is a generation of talent ready to be unleashed. We are backing them with the support they need to build a fulfilling future.’
However, Tory welfare spokesperson Helen Whately MP accused Labour of addressing the consequences of youth unemployment rather than its underlying causes.
‘Under Labour, businesses are being hit with higher taxes and more red tape, while the welfare bill continues to spiral,’ she said.
Ms Whately added: ‘The answer is not to pour more money into half-baked government schemes—it’s to make it easier for businesses to create real, lasting jobs and ensure that those who can work are expected to do so.
‘The Conservatives would cut the jobs tax on young workers, create 100,000 more apprenticeships, and reform a welfare system that too often traps people in unemployment.
‘Young people deserve real support to get themselves onto the career ladder, not another government-funded waiting room.’
Liberal Democrat welfare spokesperson Steve Darling MP said: ‘There are currently more people out of work than vacancies.
‘A six-month placement is ultimately worth very little if there’s no job waiting at the end of it.
‘If Ministers want to get young people into work, they need to scrap their jobs tax and fix our broken trading relationship with Europe—both of which have killed off opportunities for young people.’
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