Unemployment: People with Autism

Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend and will be delighted to talk to him about examples and take them back to the department. He is right to focus on the importance of supporting employers; there are many who want to do the right thing but may not know how best to do it. Business-to-business mentoring can be key, and my noble friend will perhaps be reassured to know that we are exploring the benefits of business-to-business mentoring as part of our regional Vanguard employer work as part of Keep Britain Working. In the meantime, the Disability Confident scheme encourages collaboration between employers, including peer-to-peer learning; and connect to work, our specialist voluntary supported employment programme, works directly with employers to help secure and sustain jobs. My noble friend is absolutely right to push on this area.

[Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as chairman of Team Domenica. The Alan Milburn review on young people and employment states that for every £25 spent on benefits, £1 is spent on supporting employment. The Access to Work supported internship scheme, which was for 39 weeks, has been reduced to 26 weeks. This does not give people with autism and learning disabilities enough time to learn the skills they need to get into employment. Will the Minister consider reinstating the 39-week programme?

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right to focus on support. Alan Milburn made the point very strongly about the need—across the system, not just in employment—to engage with support and early prevention work rather than just dealing with the outcomes of inactivity among young people. Access to Work is an incredibly valued and supported programme. We are looking at how to reform it. I can write to her with the details, but there was not a decision taken to reduce its length across the board; it was simply that what should have been an occasional extension had become more broad. We are looking to ensure that it ends up doing the right thing to support people. The work on supported internships is really well valued, and Access to Work does incredibly well in supporting people across hundreds of colleges to engage in work experience. For all young people, real work experience in a real workplace is the best way to help them get into work, and we are committed to that.

People with Disabilities: Employment

Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest Excerpts

Tuesday 28th October 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest]

To ask His Majesty’s Government, following reports of the dismissal by Waitrose of a volunteer with autism, what steps they are taking to ensure employers are encouraged to support people with disabilities into employment.

[Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest (Con)]

I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. I declare my interest as chairman of Team Domenica.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Sherlock) (Lab)]

My Lords, notwithstanding the valuable role that volunteering plays in helping people prepare for work, we want disabled people and people with health conditions to be able to secure sustained employment. That is why we are funding local authorities to open our supported employment programme, Connect to Work, throughout England and Wales. Crucially, as part of this programme, specialist employment advisers work with both participants and employers, ensuring that participants are supported and workplaces are inclusive.

[Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest (Con)]

I thank the Minister for her response, but the fact remains that only 5% of people with learning disabilities are in paid employment. Will the Minister agree to giving businesses an exemption or a remission from the employers’ national insurance contribution for this cohort, whose lives would be transformed by being included in the workplace and their communities?

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

My Lords, I share the noble Baroness’s desire to find more opportunities for people with learning disabilities, severe autism and other conditions to get the benefits of work, of which money is but one. I pay tribute to the work she has done in creating Team Domenica and the work it has done in supporting learning-disabled people into work. I am sure the whole House would share in that.

Having said all that, successive Governments have taken a view that the best way to support disabled people into work is not necessarily by changing the rules around national insurance or the minimum wage. The noble Baroness is absolutely right that the level of employment for disabled people is only around 50% and for those with autism around 30%, and, as she says, it is vanishingly small for those with learning disabilities. We believe passionately that disabled people are vital to the UK’s workforce. The way we have approached this is with the priority of providing opportunities and support for disabled people to thrive in work. That is why we commissioned the independent Keep Britain Working review, which will be published shortly, to understand how we can create and maintain the kind of workplaces that want to support disabled people and enable them to thrive. It is why we are reforming employment, health and skills support, to tackle rising economic inactivity and get people into good jobs. We want the same thing; we are doing it in different ways, but we are determined to make things better.