Arabic version: هيلي يربط خفض الإنفاق على الإعانات بوظائف للشباب

According to BBC News, Chancellor John Healey told Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool that reducing welfare spending was both an economic and moral duty, arguing that young people should be offered jobs, training and wages rather than benefit payments.

Healey said the government would expand the Local Apprenticeships Service to any mayor in England who wants it. The Treasury said the scheme, due to roll out across England from March 2027, would use local teams to match young people with employers, including small businesses that have not previously taken on trainees.

An extra £100m will be put into the service, funded by savings from the Department for Work and Pensions’ crackdown on fraud. Healey said mayors would hold the powers to implement it because they know local employers, colleges and areas that have been left behind.

He highlighted the million young people not in education, employment or training, saying benefits should be a bridge into work rather than a trap. Later, he said he would not set a timetable for cutting the benefits bill before the next election, adding that reducing the number of young people in this group could not be done overnight.

Facing pressure before next month’s Budget, Healey said government commitments would be built on fiscal discipline and that the Budget would give families and businesses “a bit of breathing space”. He also repeated plans to re-industrialise the country, said Rolls Royce would invest £300m more in British factories, and pledged to restore the Union Learning Fund in England.