Tories Unveil 'Get to Work' Plan Targeting Jobless Under-25s on Universal Credit

The Conservative Party has announced plans to impose stricter work requirements on young benefit claimants, proposing a mandatory "Get to Work" scheme for under-25s who have not held down a job for at least six months. The policy, described by the party as an approach rooted in "tough love," is aimed squarely at reducing the number of young people in the UK who are neither in education, employment nor training — a group commonly known as Neets.

Under the proposals, anyone aged 18 to 24 who applies for Universal Credit without a prior continuous work history of six months or more — at a minimum of 16 hours per week — would be redirected into the new programme. Instead of receiving Universal Credit, they would be paid a "Get to Work Allowance," set at the same rate but conditional on far more demanding obligations.

Participants would be required to attend a job centre on a daily basis, take part in work experience placements or work-readiness courses, and engage with job search workshops and interview preparation sessions. Each claimant would also be assigned a dedicated manager to oversee their progress through the scheme.

The programme is designed to run for six months, though it would end early for anyone who successfully secures employment. For those still out of work after half a year on the scheme, benefits would be cut by 30% — a significant financial penalty intended to sharpen the incentive to find a job.

The Conservatives have framed the policy as a response to what they see as a broken transition from education into the workforce. Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said the measures were intended to "show some tough love" and reduce the number of Neets. "Too many young people are leaving school and signing straight onto benefits — this is a waste of their potential and a disaster for our economy," the Tory MP said.

The party estimates that nearly one million people aged 16 to 24 across the UK fall into the Neet category. The issue has climbed the political agenda in recent months, with a major report from former minister Alan Milburn expected imminently on how to tackle the problem. That review will focus on the roughly one in eight young people in the country who are not in education, employment or training.

Importantly, the Tory plans include a series of exemptions. Young people on Universal Credit who have already worked for six months, those with health conditions, individuals with caring responsibilities, and those who are estranged from their families would not be subject to the new requirements. The party has also signalled it would examine whether parents' earnings and savings should be taken into account when calculating welfare payments for their children.

The proposals were unveiled on Thursday, just ahead of the Conservative Party conference beginning this weekend, giving the leadership a high-profile platform to promote the policy. The announcement also follows a separate commitment from the Tories to prevent the long-term jobless from spending benefits on alcohol and cigarettes, underscoring a broader push toward conditionality in the welfare system.

Current Universal Credit rules already require claimants to sign a "claimant commitment" outlining steps they will take to prepare for and look for work, or to increase their earnings if already employed. The Conservatives argue their new scheme would go considerably further by mandating daily attendance and attaching a direct financial penalty for non-compliance after six months.

However, the plans have drawn criticism from anti-poverty organisations. The charity Trussell warned that people on Universal Credit are already unable to afford basic essentials, and that this financial insecurity undermines their ability to find and keep work. The charity's intervention highlights a central tension in the debate: whether stricter conditions genuinely help people into employment or simply deepen hardship for those already struggling.

The announcement also lands amid a broader political competition over youth unemployment policy. At Labour's conference earlier this week, Chancellor John Healey told party activists that "the best thing we can offer a young person is not a benefit payment — it's a first job with training and a wage." He described cutting welfare spending as a priority and announced that every mayor in England would have access to a Local Apprenticeships Service from March 2027, intended to generate thousands more opportunities for young people.

In a further development on Thursday, the Department for Work and Pensions said every small and medium-sized business hiring a young apprentice would receive £2,000 from the government under a new scheme backed by the Federation of Small Businesses. Together, these measures suggest a cross-party consensus that the current level of youth worklessness is unacceptable, even as the two main parties diverge on the methods.

For the Conservatives, the "Get to Work" scheme represents a calculated political bet that voters will reward a tougher line on welfare conditionality. By targeting under-25s specifically, the party is seeking to distinguish its approach from Labour's emphasis on training, apprenticeships and job creation. Whether the policy succeeds will depend not only on its deterrent effect but also on whether the support structures — job centres, work experience placements and readiness courses — can actually deliver the opportunities that young claimants need to move into sustained employment.

With the Milburn review due shortly and the Neet figures showing little sign of improvement, the pressure on all parties to produce credible solutions is only likely to intensify in the months ahead.