Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Disabled People of 2 July 2019, Official Report column 1180, what the outcome is of his discussions with the Office for National Statistics on including the numbers of autistic people in work as part of the labour force survey.

The Office for National Statistics is currently testing the addition of a measure of autism to the Labour Force Survey. Should the testing be successful, it is anticipated that it will be added to the survey in early 2020. This will give us a better understanding of the employment status for many autistic people of working age.