Hot on the heels of the Milburn review into young people are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), the commons work and pensions committee (WPC) have launched their own inquiry into the same topic. Benefits and Work is asking readers to contribute to this inquiry too.
Unlike the Milburn review, which many people will suspect has been set up to provide justification for preventing disabled young people claiming additional benefits, the WPC review is an all-party one which is less likely to be intended to reach a particular conclusion.
The issue is important not just because young people with neurodiversity or mental health issues are particular targets of the Milburn review.
There is a growing move to establish the principle that it is better for disabled young people, especially with these conditions, not to have access to limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) payments, because it will trap them into a life on benefits. If this belief takes hold then it allows for the possibility that the cut-off age for saving young people from such a fate can be raised again and again.
It also feeds into the growing narrative that it is the fault of disabled people themselves that they are not in employment. If young people can be encouraged into taking up employment or training by preventing them claiming benefits, then why not older people too?
So, we are asking readers to consider making a submission both to the Milburn review and the WPC inquiry.
The WPC inquiry is not focused on disability in the same way as parts of the Milburn review are, but the committee do include “underinvestment in mental health” as one of the possible causes of high youth unemployment.
The committee has a list of questions and say that respondents can answer any of them – you don’t have to answer them all.
The very first question is “What factors lead to a young person not being in education, employment or training (NEET)? Are there some young people who are more likely to be NEET than others?” This seems to lend itself to a submission about the additional barriers for disabled young people and the importance of not excluding them from access to LCWRA payments.
You can submit your evidence as a Word, ODT or RTF document using the WPC’s submissions portal. The deadline for submissions is 16.00 on 12 February 2026.
You can read more about the inquiry here.
You can read the call for evidence here and press the “Start” button at the bottom of the page to give your details and upload your submission.
