Young people should have legal guarantee to job or training, says Milburn

Young people should have a legal guarantee of a job, training or employment support, the author of a major review of youth unemployment has told the BBC.

Alan Milburn, the former Labour minister whose proposals on welfare and young people will be unveiled on Tuesday, said those who refuse to take up the help could lose their benefits.

In an interview to be broadcast on Sunday, Milburn called for a radical shift in government spending away from benefits for young people to measures that support them into work.

He claims spending on benefits for young people is 25 times as much as spending on employment support , and believes the ratio should shift to two to one.

That would mean significant cuts to benefit spending and significant extra taxpayers' cash for training, education or other forms of support.

Milburn said "the pendulum's swung far too far from the one to the other - £25 to one, and we can take everything to £2 to one".

He added: "To do that, we've got to invest, less in benefits, so we've got to be paying out less in benefits."

The former MP acknowledged that would mean some young people losing out on benefits, arguing the system should focus on helping people into work rather than keeping them dependent on welfare.

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