Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Answer of Question 108286 on Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust: ADHD and Autism, what steps he is taking to help support Surrey and Borders to meet their diagnostic targets for the assessment of neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services. This guidance intends to help the National Health Service improve autism assessment services and improve the experience for those referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also set out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism.

Since publication, NHS England has been supporting systems and services to identify where there are challenges for implementation and how they might overcome these.

NHS England established an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) taskforce which brought together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support. The final report was published on 6 November 2025, and we are carefully considering its recommendations.

Building on the work of the Independent ADHD Taskforce, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced on the 4 December 2025 the launch of an Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism. The review will inform our approach so that people with ADHD and autistic people have the right support in place to enable them to live well in their communities.