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1140217

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking further to the Disability Confident Scheme and the Disability Confident Toolkit to ensure people with autism spectrum conditions are supported within the workplace through (a) peer and (b) mentor support.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	279085
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Access to Work offers eligible individuals practical advice and a discretionary grant of up to £59,200 per year to fund support above the level of an employer’s statutory obligation to make reasonable adjustments, and this can include specialist mentoring. DWP is working with the Supported Business Alliance (SBA) and The British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) to develop a new long term element of Access to Work, to support people working for a supported business, many of whom have autism spectrum conditions.</p><p> </p><p>DWP, in partnership with Department of Health and Social Care, has published a consultation: ‘Health is everyone’s business: proposals to reduce ill health-related job loss’ on how employers can best support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, including those with autism spectrum conditions, to stay and thrive in work.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/07/2019 10:18:10 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1140219

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking, in addition to the Disability Confident Scheme and the Disability Confident Toolkit, to ensure people with autism spectrum conditions are supported in the workplace in relation to the working environment and their sensory needs.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	279086
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Access to Work staff have a specialist knowledge of disabilities and health conditions, including autism spectrum conditions, which enables them to offer customers tailored packages of support, and the scheme offers eligible individuals a workplace assessment to establish what personalised support would be most appropriate to support them at work.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is working with the Supported Business Alliance (SBA) and The British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) to develop a new long term element of Access to Work, to support people working for a supported business, many of whom have autism spectrum conditions.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is also working in partnership with Department of Health and Social Care to publish a consultation on how employers can best support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, including those with autism spectrum conditions, to stay and thrive in work.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/07/2019 10:24:38 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1140220

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will offer people with autistic spectrum conditions of working age access to interview training designed and delivered by individuals with extensive knowledge of autism spectrum conditions through Jobcentres.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	279087
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The new Health and Work Conversation allows work coaches to build engagement with claimants with disabilities and health issues. Work Coaches are given comprehensive training to build their empathy skills and help them to actively listen to claimants. In addition, two new specialist job roles were introduced into Jobcentres from April 2019 - a revised Disability Employment Adviser role, bringing together the current role and incorporating elements of the Community Partner and Small Employer Adviser roles, and a new Disability Employment Adviser Leader role. These new roles will be instrumental in driving the government’s commitment to providing high quality support to disabled people and those with health conditions, including autism spectrum conditions. In total, more than 800 people will be employed in these new roles.</p><p> </p><p>Work Coaches can refer individuals to a range of personalised support, which can include specialist interview training, through programmes like The Work and Health Programme. Work and Health Programme providers have links to organisations with extensive knowledge of autism spectrum conditions, including Autism Plus, Triple A (All About Autism), Autism Anglia, Autism Spectrum Connections CYMRU (ASCC), Gwent Integrated Autism Service, and The Autism Directory.</p><p> </p><p>By the end of 2019 we will have rolled out our new Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme, which will provide highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people, including people with autism spectrum conditions, who are at least a year away from moving into work.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/07/2019 10:10:39 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1134104

registered interest
date	24/06/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support adults with Autism gain employment.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	268550
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to improving employment outcomes for people with autism. Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability is our strategy for helping people with disabilities or health conditions enter and remain in employment. It includes details of several initiatives that will help support disabled people, including people with autism, in making a successful transition to employment. For example:</p><p> </p><ul><li>The Work and Health Programme will provide innovative support for around 275,000 people over five years. The majority of people of starting on the programme (around 220,000) will be disabled people, including people with autism, who can volunteer for the programme at any time.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>The Personal Support Package for people with health conditions and disabilities, with a range of new interventions and initiatives designed to provide support that is tailored to the individual needs of claimants, including people with autism</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Access to Work is a demand-led, discretionary grant scheme which offers advice and in-work support to disabled people, including those with autism, above the level of statutory reasonable adjustments. An Access to Work customer may receive an award of up to £59,200 p.a. to pay for support to help them to enter or retain employment. This can include help with getting to work.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Through the Disability Confident scheme, DWP is engaging with employers, offering online guidance and helping to promote the skills, talents and abilities of disabled people, including people with autism and associated hidden impairments</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>We are also continuing to build on local initiatives in jobcentres, to ensure that we deliver a consistently supportive service across Jobcentre Plus. For example, as part of Autism Awareness Week in April 2019, we introduced short “Bitesize” Autism Awareness Learning for work coaches and promoted Calm and Quiet Sessions in jobcentres.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Looking forward, the new Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme, which will roll out by the end of 2019, will provide highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people, including those with autism, who are at least a year away from moving into work.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 02/07/2019 16:05:08 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1125879

registered interest
date	10/05/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2018 to Question 193494 on Employment: Autism, if she will make it her policy to disaggregate data on Access to Work statistics to identify the number people with Autism Spectrum Disorders in those data sets.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	252852
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>We do not currently have plans to make adjustments to the primary medical condition categories used in Access to Work. The categories we use are consistent with the categories used in the Labour Force Survey. This is so we can compare our data to the disability employment rate.</p><p> </p><p>As explained in the Answer of 27 November 2018 to Question 193494, when a person with Autism Spectrum Disorders receives support through Access to Work, it will be for a specific issue or condition – e.g. a Mental health condition, difficulty in speaking, etc. – rather than Autism Spectrum Disorder. Access to Work customers may have more than one disability or condition, and it is the condition for which they are receiving support that is recorded on the Access to Work system as their primary health condition.</p><p> </p><p>The Access to Work statistics have been developed using guidelines set out by the UK Statistics Authority, but are still undergoing development and are therefore designated as experimental statistics. We are exploring the scope for potential modification following user feedback about the usefulness of the data.</p><p> </p><p>Users are invited to comment on the development and relevance of these statistics and can send feedback to: <a href="mailto:access.toworkstatistics@dwp.gsi.gov.uk" target="_blank">access.toworkstatistics@dwp.gsi.gov.uk</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/05/2019 15:14:33 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1125880

registered interest
date	10/05/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2018 to Question 193498 on Employment: Autism, over what time period was the Neurodiversity Toolkit was developed; what processes were used to develop that toolkit; and what assessment she has made of the effect of that toolkit on closing the autism employment gap.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	252853
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2019 answer text <p>In 2016, DWP contracted Autism Alliance UK to assemble an Autism Task Group to develop a new Autism and Neurodiversity Toolkit. Membership of the group comprised people with Neuro-diverse conditions, medical professionals/academics and a number of organisations, including: the National Autistic Society, Autism Alliance UK, Autism Plus and Dyscovery Centre.</p><p> </p><p>Within three months, the toolkit was ready to be quality assured by the Hidden Impairments National Group. The toolkit was launched by Philip Rutnam (Civil Service Disability Champion) during Autism Awareness Week, in April 2017.</p><p> </p><p>The toolkit is available to all Civil Servants; helping them to better understand how to support people with Autism or Neuro-diverse conditions. It is hosted on Autism Alliance UK’s website, and is updated regularly by them with professional help and guidance.</p><p> </p><p>As was explained in the Answer of 27 November 2018 to Question 193495 on Employment: Autism, no formal assessment has been made on the impact of the Toolkit on the autism employment gap.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 17/05/2019 15:06:27 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1109330

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to assess the effectiveness of the local supported proof of concept initiative in closing the autism employment gap.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	240582
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2019 answer text <p>Proofs of Concept are not designed to provide evidence of impacts on national employment trends. Rather, they allow us to test whether a policy idea is deliverable.</p><p> </p><p>The Local Supported Employment Proof of Concept is a relatively small scale programme exploring how combining central and local budgets enables Local Authorities to scale up delivery of Supported Employment. The initiative is designed to support people with a learning disability or autism who are known to adult social care, or who are in contact with secondary mental health services. By working with local authorities, there may be an opportunity for DWP to drive a much stronger focus on job outcomes and on evidence-based commissioning using the Supported Employment model.</p><p> </p><p>We are currently considering our next steps to build on this Proof of Concept.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/04/2019 13:15:36 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1109331

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to tackle the underemployment of people diagnosed with autism.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	240583
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2019 answer text <p>DWP is committed to helping people with health conditions and disabilities, including autism move nearer to the labour market and, when ready, into work, by building more personalised tailored employment and health support.</p><p> </p><p>The majority of DWP’s schemes and programmes are focused on helping people, including people diagnosed with autism, prepare for and enter work. For example:</p><p> </p><ul><li>The Work and Health Programme, which rolled out between November 2017 and March 2018, will support around 275,000 people over five years - the majority whom (around 220,000) will be disabled people who can volunteer for the programme at any time.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>The new Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, which is due to be rolled out across England and Wales at the end of 2019, will provide highly personalised packages of employment support for people with both disabilities and complex barriers to employment who are considered by DWP work coaches to be more than 12 months from the labour market without intensive support</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>The Local Supported Employment proof of concept is currently exploring how we can combine central and local budgets to scale up delivery of Supported Employment locally. This initiative is designed to explore how a matched funding model could support people with a learning disability or autism who are known to adult social care, or who are in contact with secondary mental health services.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Disabled people who are already working, or who are about to enter work, can apply for in-work support from Access to Work scheme. The scheme has a Hidden Impairment Support Team that provides advice and guidance to help employers support employees with conditions like autism, as well as offering eligible people an assessment to find out their needs at work and help to develop a support plan.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, DWP is engaging with employers through the Disability Confident scheme - supporting them to feel more confident about both employing disabled people, including autistic people, and supporting disabled employees to realise their potential. Over 11,500 employers have signed up to the scheme so far.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 12/04/2019 13:23:38 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1109332

registered interest
date	03/04/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to collect and publish data on the employment status of adults diagnosed with autism.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	240584
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>Department for Work and Pensions officials are considering how to robustly measure the employment rate among autistic people, including whether it might be possible to collect this information through the Labour Force Survey.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/04/2019 09:56:11 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1087040

registered interest
date	12/03/2019
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will made an assessment of trends in the level of (a) bullying and (b) harassment of people with autism in the workplace.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	231511
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2019 answer text <p>We currently have no plans to assess trends in bullying and harassment in the workplace of people with autism.</p><p> </p><p>However, we are committed to supporting people with disabilities or health conditions, including those with autism, to manage issues they may face in employment by offering both them and their employers appropriate support. For example:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Access to Work has put in place a Hidden Impairment Specialist Team (HIST) that aims to offer advice and guidance to help employers support employees with conditions such as autism, Learning Disability and/or Mental Health conditions. HIST also offers eligible people an assessment to find out their needs at work and help to develop a support plan.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Through the Disability Confident scheme, DWP is engaging with employers and helping to promote the skills, talents and abilities of disabled people, including those with autism and associated conditions. Disability Confident offers advice and support to help employers feel more confident about employing disabled people.</li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/03/2019 14:56:16 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire