Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential causes of the diagnoses of autism in young people.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Clinical Knowledge Summary on autism states that the precise cause of autism is unknown, but that genetic factors play a substantial role in the aetiology, and a number of environmental factors are also thought to play a part in development. Further information is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/autism-in-adults/background-information/causes-risk-factors/