Oral Answers to Questions

John Glen Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I am glad he is visiting Rugby jobcentre, and I encourage all Members across the House to go to their local jobcentres, because their work coaches have the most experience and knowledge about what we need to do to get people into work. We are creating “jobcentre in your pocket”, so that everyone can have access to help 24 hours a day. Letting technology take the strain will mean that our work coaches can do more of what they do best, which is giving people—person to person—the confidence to take up life’s chances.

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

T5. Last week, Policy Exchange published a very insightful report, “Out of Control”, looking at the pathways to benefit entitlements. It made this point:“Fifty years ago, just one in 2,500 people was said to have Autism; today that has risen to one in 36 children”.Will the ministerial team undertake to look at the implications for the Department of that definitional creep and the specific implications for benefit entitlements?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

We have set up a panel of experts to advise us on how best to improve employment prospects for people with autism and neurodivergence. As the right hon. Member knows, we will be undertaking a review of the PIP assessment, co-producing it with disabled people, so that we have a clear way forward for who should and who should not be entitled to the personal independence payment.