Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnostic pathways.

As part of the NHS Long Term Plan we are investing £2.5 million to test and implement the most effective ways to reduce autism diagnosis waiting times for children and young people in England. In addition, in 2021-22 we are investing an extra £10.5 million to address waiting times for a diagnosis for children, young people and adults and proactively identify those at risk of crisis. We will be publishing shortly our refreshed national autism strategy, which will set out actions to improve the diagnosis of autism for both adults and children.