Rather than investing in public services early to stop problems from developing, the state is in firefighting mode. The challenge for ministers is that the costs to the economy and to government finances of the Neet crisis is £125bn a year and rising. Moving money upstream is difficult because the savings from preventive spending take time to materialise, and spending on acute need and welfare cannot be simply turned off. Britain is already paying the price of a crumbling NHS, rising welfare bill, jobs market inactivity, and consequent weak economic growth. Milburn’s review is therefore a critical test of whether Britain will grasp the nettle to rebuild a preventive state from the ashes of the austerity years.