Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Health and Work Programme for autistic people.

Over contract duration we expect 75% of Work and Health Programme (WHP) outcomes to be from participants with a disability or long term health condition. Whilst the programme is not aimed exclusively at autistic people, we expect that many will benefit from its support; we will be releasing official statistics this year. However, the programme has been warmly welcomed by WHP Providers and their supply chain, external stakeholders and, most importantly, our customers, and is already helping people into lasting work.