Review proposes ending PIP for under-25s and replacing it with local disability fund
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Alan Milburn’s review recommends ending personal independence payments for most under-25s, introducing a new youth allowance and a locally managed fund for short-term disability expenses.
A review led by former health secretary Alan Milburn will recommend ending personal independence payments (PIP) for most people under 25, replacing them with a new youth allowance paid at the standard universal credit rate. The proposal keeps PIP for those with the most severe needs, while others would need to apply to a locally managed fund for equipment or short-term costs such as travel to training or job interviews.
Milburn said the current benefits system for young people must be "torn up" and rebuilt with schools, the NHS and employers working together to help them earn or learn. He argued that "crude benefit cuts" would not stop the projected 1.25 million under-25s from being out of employment, education or training, and that a new approach should provide "relentless support towards work".
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation warned that the changes could weaken the safety net for hundreds of thousands of disabled young people, leaving many on universal credit with only about £80 a week. Iain Porter, the charity’s senior policy adviser, said cutting income for those already struggling would make it harder for them to stay in education or find work.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the country faces a choice between investing early in young people’s success or continuing to pay the cost of failure when they become detached from education and work. Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy expressed unease about voting for cuts to disability benefits, noting that many affected young people are already in college or employment.