Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for people seeking a diagnosis of autism; and what steps the Government plans to take to (a) reduce that time and (b) ensure that children can access care for autism.

It is not possible at present to calculate an average waiting time for an autism diagnosis. The current autism diagnosis waiting times data collection and reporting by NHS Digital is experimental and focuses on the percentage of people receiving a first appointment for an autism assessment within a given timeframe. The latest data release in December 2021 suggests that in Quarter 1 2021/22, 12% of reported referrals for suspected autism had a first appointment recorded within the recommended 13 weeks.

To tackle waiting times for an autism diagnosis, we are investing £13 million in 2021/22. Of this, NHS England and NHS Improvement have provided £7 million to local areas to test and implement timely, quality autism diagnosis and post-diagnosis pathways for children and young people.