Published15 November 2026, 10:56 GMT
The work and pensions secretary has backed the idea that the government should legally guarantee young people help to get into employment.
Pat McFadden told the BBC that job support should be given a "legislative underpinning", adding the level of assistance on offer was currently "vague".
McFadden also confirmed that some current benefit claimants would see their current entitlement to benefits reduced when they are reassessed.
But his Conservative counterpart Helen Whately said the idea of legally guaranteeing support "doesn't make sense" and ministers should focus instead on reducing taxes paid by employers.
It comes ahead of a long-awaited review – set to be published on Tuesday – by former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn, which will say that under-25s should be guaranteed job placements or training to help them find permanent work.
His report is expected to say that under-25s should no longer be able to claim the health element of UK-wide universal credit – or personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability benefit in England and Wales.
Some could be eligible for a new "additional cost allowance" to cover day-to-day costs related to health conditions, under the plans.
Milburn has framed the move as a means to free up funding for increased support for the unemployed, but the idea of reducing the entitlement of existing benefit claimants could prove controversial among Labour MPs.
Speaking to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Milburn said there should be a new "duty on government" to provide young people with opportunities including apprenticeships, college places, job coaching, or a job.
This should be accompanied, he added, by "more obligations on their part to take up that opportunity".
Asked on the same programme whether he agreed with the idea, McFadden said: "I do think we need some legislative underpinning to this."
He added that the offer of support "needs to be more firm," adding: "People need more certainty about what they are entitled to".
He confirmed that the government planned to move younger claimants onto a new benefits system when they undergo scheduled reassessment, and some of them would not receive "what they would get today".
Other claimants, such as those with long-term disabilities, would receive an increased amount, he added.
Also speaking to Kuenssberg, shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said her party backed moves to reduce welfare spending.
But she criticised the proposed legal guarantee of work support, arguing it might "sound a nice thing to do," but ministers would be better off reducing taxes and regulations on businesses to help youngsters find "real jobs".
She added it was "absurd" the government had increased taxes for employers in order to "subsidise things that look like jobs". She added: "Just stop doing the taxing."
It comes as the government announced it will further widen eligibly for its scheme that offers jobless under-25s subsidised six-month job roles on the minimum wage.
From next April, eligible claimants will be offered a role after 12 months of unsuccessfully looking for work, rather 18 currently.
It is the second time that eligibility for the scheme has been widened, after the maximum age was increased from 21 to 24 earlier this year.
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