Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has had recent discussions with representatives of people who have experience of autism on the formulation of his Department's policies.
On 2 April 2023, World Autism Acceptance Day, we announced the launch of a new review into autism and employment. The review is being led by the Rt Hon Member for South Swindon and is exploring ways to increase the number of autistic people in employment and to improve retention rates.
The review is focused on supporting employers to recruit and retain autistic people, identifying barriers to this happening and developing ways to overcome those barriers.
During the evidence gathering stage of this review, we have engaged with representatives of people who experienced autism from a wide range of industries that include, but are not limited to: the employment sector, the education sector, local authorities, devolved administrations, autistic charities, technology experts and most importantly autistic people.