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 merits of making the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline on waiting times for autism assessments a statutory requirement.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessment services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. In doing so, ICBs should take account of waiting lists, considering how local funding can be deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.

NICE guidelines are not mandatory, but National Health Service commissioners and healthcare providers are expected to take them fully into account in designing services that meet the needs of their local populations.

Lord Darzi’s independent review of the NHS, published in September 2024, highlighted that demand for autism assessments has grown significantly in recent years. Waiting times for an assessment will be impacted by a range of factors, which may differ between areas, including the level of demand and the capacity within autism assessment services to meet that demand.

The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our NHS needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention.