Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to unveil a plan at the Labour party conference in Liverpool that would guarantee a paid work placement for long-term unemployed youths. The proposal would tie benefit rules to take-up, with sanctions for claimants who refuse offered roles. It forms part of Reeves’s case for a society built on contribution, and she will also set out funding for libraries in all English primary schools and measures to support British steelmaking and shipbuilding. A ‘hit squad’ of investigators will target Covid fraudsters, with fines of up to 100% of the money swindled.

Under the plan, every young person who has claimed universal credit for 18 months without earning or learning would be offered a paid work placement. Claimants who refuse a suitable offer could lose benefits, subject to reasonable excuse. Reeves is expected to say: “We won’t leave a generation of young people to languish without prospects – denied the dignity, the security and the ladders of opportunity that good work provides.” The plan is part of a pledge to abolish long-term youth unemployment. One in eight 16- to 24-year-olds is not in education, employment or training.

The scheme would be overseen by Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden and funded from £132.5 million of dormant assets. Other measures include funding for libraries in around 1,700 English primary schools that currently lack one, and rules to prioritise British-built ships and steel in public procurement to bolster national security. Reeves will say: “Where things are made, and who makes them, does matter.” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will also use the conference to outline tougher rules for immigration, with English-language requirements, a clean criminal record and volunteering to demonstrate value to society.