Burnham Says Cutting Welfare Costs Will Require More Investment In Young People
Reducing the cost of welfare will require the Government to spend more on supporting young people into education, training and employment, Andy Burnham has said.
The Prime Minister made the comments while visiting an employer in Wiltshire on Friday, November 6. He was asked how plans to expand career support for young people could be funded while government departments face pressure to reduce their budgets and meet commitments to increase defence spending. Mr Burnham acknowledged that balancing these priorities would be difficult but said ministers would need to reprioritise spending and identify funding for new support measures.
His comments came as the Government awaits the findings of the Milburn review, which is examining how to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training, commonly referred to as NEETs.
Mr Burnham said savings could emerge over time if investment helped more young people find work and remain in employment. He argued that the initial spending should be viewed as an investment in society rather than simply an increase in welfare expenditure.
He told Times Radio that the Government would need to provide funding upfront before the expected savings could be realised. He said there would eventually be a point when the financial benefits of helping young people into work began to outweigh the initial costs.
The Prime Minister also outlined his ambition to introduce a guarantee of a 45-day work placement for young people aged between 16 and 18. He said placements of this kind were currently linked to T-level qualifications but believed they should be available more widely to young people seeking meaningful workplace experience.
Mr Burnham said he had seen the difference that quality work placements could make. His proposal would give teenagers an opportunity to gain practical experience, understand workplace expectations and develop skills that could help them progress into employment.
The issue was also raised during an interview with the BBC, where Mr Burnham was asked when he expected welfare spending to begin falling. He said reductions could happen over time as a result of greater investment in support for young people, but stressed that any changes needed to be sustainable.
He was also asked whether the Government wanted to reduce the welfare bill before the next general election. Mr Burnham said he wanted the balance to shift as quickly as possible, while emphasising that the approach should deliver lasting results rather than short-term reductions.
The Government is expected to respond to two major reviews in the coming weeks. The Milburn review is focused on young people who are outside education, employment and training, while the Timms review is examining potential reforms to disability benefits.
The Timms review is looking at disability benefit arrangements, including Personal Independence Payment. Its findings are expected to contribute to the Government's wider plans for managing welfare expenditure, although ministers have yet to set out the full details of their proposed changes.
The scale of the financial challenge is reflected in forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility. Welfare spending is projected to reach £431 billion by the 2031-32 financial year, with health-related support and pensioner benefits accounting for much of the expected increase.
More than half of the Government's welfare expenditure goes towards pensioners, including the state pension and other benefits. This means that efforts to reduce the overall bill involve a broad range of spending pressures, not solely payments to working-age people or young benefit claimants.
The debate comes amid wider pressure on public finances, with ministers facing competing demands from welfare, public services and defence. The Government has indicated that it wants welfare spending to become more manageable, but the precise timetable and scale of any reduction have not yet been established.
Mr Burnham's comments indicate that the Government is considering a strategy based partly on improving employment opportunities and providing earlier support, rather than relying exclusively on immediate reductions in benefit payments. Whether that approach produces lasting savings will depend on how effectively the proposed measures help young people move into sustained work.
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