Labour's Pat McFadden fails to say whether Britain's benefits bill will come down by next election - as architect of NEETs plan admits it will take 10 years to make savings

Detailed summary

The Work and Pensions Secretary dodged committing to a reduction in overall spending on working-age welfare by the time the country next goes to the polls.

Published: 10:47 GMT, 15 November 2026 | Updated: 10:49 GMT, 15 November 2026

Pat McFadden today failed to say if Labour will cut the benefits bill by the next election - as the architect of plans to tackle youth inactivity admitted it will take 10 years to make savings.

The Work and Pensions Secretary dodged committing to a reduction in overall spending on working-age welfare by the time the country next goes to the polls.

Mr McFadden instead said the 'best way' to cut the amount going on benefits was through the 'long-term reset' being proposed by the Government.

At the heart of those plans are efforts to tackle the almost one million young people not in education, employment or training – so-called NEETs.

Alan Milburn, the former Labour health secretary, is due to publish a major report on Tuesday with his recommendations for tackling the youth inactivity crisis.

He is set to outline plans for young people to have a legal guarantee of a job, training or employment support, for young people to keep more of their wages before they lose any benefits if they get into work, and to remove under-25s off the main sickness and disability benefits.

But, speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mr Milburn admitted his proposals for getting more young people into employment would involve billions of pounds of extra spending.

He also suggested it would take a decade for his plans to begin saving taxpayers' cash.

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