Andy Burnham is committed to welfare reform, the Government's youth unemployment adviser has insisted.

Alan Milburn said the prime minister-in-waiting knows changing the system was 'absolutely necessary' to help a million young people who were out of work or education. 

He also claimed there was the same appetite in the Labour Party even though backbenchers made Keir Starmer abandon £5billion cuts to disability benefits a year ago.

It comes as it was revealed the number of people with ADHD who receive disability benefits without any requirement to look for work passed the 100,000 mark.

A surge in young claimants saw the figure rise from 71,528 in July 2024 to 100,207 in April – an increase of 40 per cent since Labour came to power.

His comments follow Mr Burnham's assertion that he would not implement 'crude cuts to benefit levels' that would place claimants in 'even worse poverty' and create a 'backlash'. 

Mr Milburn said on Monday the Government 'got it wrong' in its attempt to cut the soaring welfare bill.

He said the best way to tackle the 'huge welfare problem' is to 'ensure that young people get the opportunity and support... so they can be at work, pay their taxes, and become less dependent on benefits'.

He added: 'Everything I've seen from Andy publicly suggests he knows welfare reform is absolutely necessary.'

Mr Milburn, whose report on the Neets crisis (under-25s who are not in education, employment or training) was published in May, said there is a 'generational fault line' as so many young people have never had a job.

Joblessness among those aged 16 to 24 is at an 11-year high of 16.2 per cent, with costs hitting entry-level roles.

'Hospitality vacancies [have fallen] by a half in four or five years,' Mr Milburn said. 'And that's before the full impact of artificial intelligence.'