Young people to lose benefits if they refuse work or training, minster says

Young people will lose their benefits if they refuse to take up work and training opportunities, a Cabinet minister has said ahead of announcing measures to cut the welfare bill.

Liz Kendall said claimants have a "responsibility" to engage with skills or employment programmes and will face sanctions if they decline to do so as part of reforms to be set out next week.

The Labour government has said it will stick to a commitment under the former Tory administration to reduce the welfare bill by £3 billion over five years.

Under the previous government, welfare eligibility would have been tightened so around 400,000 more people signed off long-term would be assessed as needing to prepare for work by 2028/29 to deliver the savings.

Facing broadcasters on Sunday, Ms Kendall declined to reveal how specifically Labour will cut costs ahead of announcing a package of legislation next week, saying only the government will introduce its own reforms.

The Work and Pensions Secretary told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “If people repeatedly refuse to take up the training or work responsibilities, there will be sanctions on their benefits.

"The reason why we believe this so strongly is that we believe in our responsibility to provide those opportunities, which is what we will do.”

Referring to young people specifically, she said the government would “transform” opportunities with a “youth guarantee” as part of the reforms, but they would in turn be “required to take them up”.

Ms Kendall also said she believed “many millions” of disabled people and those with long-term health problems want to work, and “we need to break down the barriers to that happening”.

The latest official forecasts published by the government show the number of people claiming incapacity benefits is expected to climb from around 2.5 million in 2019 to 4.2 million in 2029. Last year there were just over three million claimants.

Ms Kendall will set out a package of measures on Tuesday designed to “get Britain working” amid Government concerns about the projected rise.

Her white paper is expected to include the placement of work coaches in mental health clinics and a “youth guarantee” aimed at ensuring those aged 18-21 are working or studying.

The Cabinet minister said the reasons for the increased number of claims are “complex” and that Britain is “an older and also sicker nation”.

She suggested some people have “self-diagnosed” mental health problems, but added there is a “genuine problem” with mental illness in the UK.

The announcement comes after Sir Keir Starmer used a Mail On Sunday op-ed to promise a crackdown on “criminals” who “game the system”.

Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake welcomed “the fact Labour are looking at this” but said he wants “to make sure they do the right things”.

“It was a phenomenon caused largely by the pandemic, we were dealing with it already, there’s more we need to do. It’s really important Labour do deal with it,” he said.

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