Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department will wait for the outcome of its independent investigation of youth inactivity before deciding whether to proceed with proposals to prevent under-22s from accessing the health element of Universal Credit, in the context of the Pathways to Work Green Paper.

Nearly one million young people - approximately one in eight 16 to 24-year-olds - are currently not in education, employment, or training (NEET). Further to this, the number of young people claiming Universal Credit (UC) Health Element and Employment and Support Allowance has increased by more than 50% in the last five years, with 80% of young people on the UC Health element currently citing mental health reasons or a neurodevelopmental condition among declared health conditions.

We need to look at this problem holistically, which is why we have launched an independent report to investigate the persistently high numbers of young people out of work, education and training led by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn. The report will examine why increasing numbers of young people are falling out of work or education before their careers have begun - with a particular focus on the impact of mental health conditions and disability.

We consulted on raising the age someone can access the UC Health Element to 22 in the Green Paper ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working. We are considering responses and will provide an update in due course.