Arabic version: مراجعة ميلبورن قد تقترح تغييرات في الإعانات لمن هم دون 25 عاماً

According to BBC News, a government-commissioned review led by former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn is expected to recommend changes to sickness and disability benefit entitlement for some people under 25. The year-long review is due to be published on Tuesday and is intended to help reduce the number of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training.

The report is expected to propose that under-25s can no longer claim the health element of UK-wide Universal Credit or personal independence payment, the main disability benefit in England and Wales. Instead, they would receive an allowance at the basic Universal Credit rate. Some could qualify for a new additional cost allowance for day-to-day expenses linked to their conditions, while people with more severe disabilities who cannot work would receive a new higher-rate benefit.

Milburn said the plans would not be “pain-free” and would affect existing as well as new claimants. He told the Times that some people could receive less financial support at the start of a claim under the proposed system, arguing that the priority should be young people’s longer-term life chances. Exact amounts would not be known until early next year, when the government publishes legislation to implement any changes.

The review is also expected to call for billions of pounds of investment in employment support, including work placements, job subsidies and one-to-one advisers. Official data for April to June suggests just under one million young people in the UK were not in education, employment or training, up 3% on the same period a year earlier. Disability charities warned that restricting access to Pip would not remove disabled people’s extra costs, while a government spokesperson said there would remain a safety net for the most vulnerable and those unable to work.