Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support more autistic people into employment.

The Government has ambitious plans to support disabled people and people with health conditions to achieve their full potential and live better for longer. In 2017, we committed to seeing 1 million more people with disabilities into employment by 2027. In the first four years we saw an increase of 850,000. We have also pledged to narrow the disability employment gap, and this has reduced by 4.8 percentage points since 2013.

The Government’s “National Strategy For Autistic Children, Young People And Adults: 2021 – 2026” specifically recognised the importance of employment support for autistic people. Some key actions are outlined below.

Starting this autumn, we will invest £7.2m in Local Supported Employment services, working with around 20 Local Authorities to enable more social care users with learning disabilities and autism to access the support needed to help them get into work and remain in employment.

We are working with the National Autistic Society to test ways to make Jobcentres more autism-inclusive.

We have strengthened our Disability Employment Adviser role, delivering direct support to claimants who require additional work related support and supporting all work coaches to deliver tailored, personalised support to claimants with a disability or health condition including those with autism.

Access to Work offers disabled customers, including those with autism, tailored packages of support and advice to help them access or remain in work.

The Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme provides highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people who want to work but have complex needs or barriers and require specialist support to achieve sustained employment such as autism.

The Labour Force Survey questionnaire now includes a question about autism. This allows us to track improvements in the employment status for people with autism,

Through the Disability Confident scheme, DWP is engaging with employers and helping to promote the skills, talents and abilities of people with autism.