An official review of youth employment in the UK is expected to recommend that young people with complex disabilities who have little chance of finding paid work should be given faster access to disability benefits. The review, led by Alan Milburn, a former Labour health secretary, suggests that 16- to 24-year-olds with the most severe lifelong needs should receive swift and unconditional support without having to repeatedly prove they cannot work. Currently, many disabled young people and their families endure long, stressful, and often adversarial assessments to access personal independence payment (Pip) and universal credit health benefits. The proposed change could include those with profound and multiple learning disabilities, severe neurological conditions, and those with severe and complex needs who qualify for NHS continuing healthcare support. Milburn has spoken about hearing stories of young people with severe disabilities waiting anxiously for the support they are entitled to. He criticized the current system for using dehumanizing, tick-box assessments that are more focused on catching people out than helping them. He emphasized that a different approach is needed for those with conditions so severe that they could never work, arguing that they should receive faster support instead of constantly having to prove their need for assistance. A separate review commissioned by the government, led by Timms, found that the Pip assessment process was described by many claimants as “soul-destroying” and degrading. The disability charity Sense, which supports people with complex needs, supported the idea of fast-track benefits but warned against assuming all young people with disabilities are unable to work. Harriet Edwards, a director at Sense, said the proposed change would be a significant step forward for young disabled people and their families, as well as for those who have long campaigned against the exhausting and humiliating process of multiple assessments. She stressed the importance of carefully defining who qualifies for the benefit, ensuring exemptions are adequate, and making sure the change applies consistently across different disability benefits to avoid confusion. Tara Harris, a mother from the West Midlands, described the process of obtaining disability benefits for her son Ollie, 25, who has complex disabilities, as a “bureaucratic nightmare.” She said the system required constant effort to obtain necessary documents and was very stressful. She described herself as having to be a “tiger mum” to navigate the system. Harris noted that her son cannot do paid work but has been able to volunteer at a cafe two days a week. The Pip assessment required her to describe his progress in a negative way, and she fears that using positive language would disqualify him from receiving support. She said it was difficult to have these conversations in front of Ollie, as it demeans him, and he is an amazing person who deserves the financial support to be an adult. The government asked Milburn to address a growing youth jobs crisis in the UK, where nearly 1 million 16- to 24-year-olds are classified as Neet (not in employment, education or training). His interim report, published in June, stressed that young people with lifelong complex needs who will never be able to work must be protected by the benefit system. However, it also suggested that young people with less severe conditions who could be supported to work may see a reduction in benefits. Milburn, who was a minister in Tony Blair’s government, recently called for investment in internships tailored to young people with special educational needs to tackle “devastating” joblessness rates among those with learning disabilities, autism, and mental illness.