YOUNG people will be barred from claiming personal independence payments (PIP) and the health element of universal credit under further welfare cuts to be unveiled later this month, with existing claimants losing their entitlement as well as new ones.
They would be moved instead onto a new ‘youth allowance’ paid at the standard rate of universal credit. Many other PIP claimants would be shifted to a new additional-cost allowance, to which fewer people would be entitled.
The plans come from a review by former health secretary Alan Milburn, titled ‘the youth worklessness crisis’, which says the benefits system should be rebuilt ‘from scratch’.
Milburn said the overhaul would not be ‘pain-free’.
‘Candidly, it could mean that some people will get less financial support at the beginning of their benefit claim than under the current system,’ he said.
Keir Starmer’s attempt as Prime Minister to cut £5bn from the benefits bill last year provoked a rebellion by more than 80 Labour MPs.
Kemi Badenoch has since unveiled plans to cut £36bn, and Reform UK says it has found £50bn of savings.
Last month, Badenoch proposed banning young people from signing straight on to benefits, with under-25s required to undergo intensive job coaching instead of claiming universal credit.
James Taylor of the charity Scope said PIP was a ‘lifeline’ for young disabled people and that restricting access to it ‘won’t make young disabled people’s extra costs disappear’.
Harriet Edwards, director of influencing at the charity Sense, said: ‘We’re deeply concerned that, if these proposals are taken forward without proper funding for specialist employment support alongside welfare changes, some young disabled people could lose out.’
Families that the charity supports were ‘deeply anxious’, she said.
Iain Porter, senior policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: ‘Cutting someone’s income when they’re already struggling to afford food or the bus to college makes it harder for them to stay in education or find work.’
He added: ‘Young disabled people shouldn’t have to trade financial security for better employment support. They need both.’
