Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to encourage businesses to employ people with autism.

In the plan to Make Work Pay (October 2024), government committed to raising awareness of all forms of neurodiversity in the workplace. This includes autism.

In January 2025, DWP launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and

experiences of neurodiversity to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work.

The panel have reviewed the workplace barriers neurodivergent people encounter in getting into or remaining in employment and will be making their recommendations later this autumn.

The work of the expert panel will also be shared with the Keep Britain Working Review on healthy and inclusive workplaces, being led by Sir Charlie Mayfield.