Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of availability of specialist mental health support services for autistic people.

Under the NHS Long Term Plan, the Government is investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year in mental health services by 2023/24 to support adults and children, including autistic people. Through the pandemic, we have provided £9.2 million of additional funding for mental health charities to support adults and children struggling with their mental wellbeing during this time. We have also provided a further £6 million to support various charities, including those working with people with learning disabilities, autism and complex needs.

We are revisiting the work to refresh the autism strategy, working closely with the Department for Education and other Government departments. As part of this work and as a key priority, we will consider what further action can be taken to support people to maintain good mental health.