Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that people diagnosed with autism are actively consulted on the support they require by (a) addressing healthcare barriers, (b) improving health outcomes and (c) implementing necessary adjustments in health services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines for autism highlight the importance of working in partnership with autistic people and, where appropriate, with their families, partners, and carers. The national framework and operational guidance for all-age autism assessment pathways, published by NHS England, set out what types of support autistic people may benefit from following diagnosis.

From 1 July 2022, service providers registered with the Care Quality Commission are required to ensure their staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role, as set out in the Health and Care Act 2022. To support this, we are rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism. Over 1.7 million people have now completed the e-learning module, which is the first part of the training.

To make it easier for autistic people to use health services, NHS England has mandated the use of a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag in health records from April 2024. This shows where a disabled person needs a reasonable adjustment to their care. In addition, in June 2024, NHS England published a Health and Care Passport guidance and template. Owned by the individual, hospital passports aim to support personalised care for people with a learning disability and autistic people, enabling better informed clinical decisions and shared decision making.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure ADHD testing is accessible to children in Greater Manchester.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is currently considering next steps to improve access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including ADHD care pathways, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England is establishing to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD and help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.

NHS Greater Manchester advises that it has launched a public engagement exercise to gather views on improving children and young people’s ADHD services in Greater Manchester. The engagement exercise, which runs until 29 November 2024, seeks to address several issues including long wait times, levels of ongoing support for patients, the referral and assessment process, and how services vary across Greater Manchester.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that people diagnosed with autism at the age of 30 or later receive comparable (a) support and (b) resources to people diagnosed in childhood; and what plans he has to tackle disparities in services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is currently considering next steps to improve support for autistic people of all ages. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including support services for autistic people of all ages, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE guideline, Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management, aims to improve access and engagement with interventions and services, and the experience of care, for autistic adults.

On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways. This guidance will help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism based on the available evidence. This includes setting out specific considerations for developing post-diagnostic support for adults diagnosed as autistic.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to reduce waiting times for autism diagnosis; and what steps he is taking to improve access to diagnostic services for (a) children and (b) adults.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is currently considering next steps to improve diagnostic assessment and support for autistic people. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessment and support services, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways. This guidance will help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism, based on the available evidence.

In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to improve support for employers who hire people with autism.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting autistic people to thrive as part of the workforce. Our current support to employers includes the Disability Confident scheme and a digital information service for employers which offers tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace.

In our plan to Make Work Pay, we committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace. Our forthcoming employment White Paper considers how to improve employment outcomes and experiences for disabled people and people with health conditions. We are exploring how we can build on the earlier, independent, Buckland Review which was focused more narrowly on autism and employment, to improve understanding and support for all neurodivergent people at work.

UN Special Rapporteur's report on atrocity crimes in Iran

Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medication shortages

Social care workers and National Insurance

Israeli Knesset decision to ban UNRWA

Immediate ceasefire in Lebanon

Found: Forster Mr Gideon Amos Sir Desmond Swayne Ben Lake Llinos Medi Bobby Dean Martin Vickers Lisa

Found: Forster Mr Gideon Amos Sir Desmond Swayne Ben Lake Llinos Medi Bobby Dean Martin Vickers Lisa