Unemployment: People with Autism

Lord Touhig Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Touhig]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what new initiatives they have introduced in the past year to reduce the level of unemployment of people with autism.

[Lord Touhig (Lab)]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and declare my interest as a vice-president of the National Autistic Society.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Sherlock) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government are committed to supporting autistic people into employment, including through targeted specialist support. Our £1 billion connect to work programme includes a supported employment pathway for neurodivergent people and is now live across most of England and Wales, with recent data showing encouraging early signs. We are also supporting employers to recruit and retain more neurodivergent people.

[Lord Touhig (Lab)]

I welcome my noble friend’s response, but can I suggest an initiative that will help more autistic people into work? Businesses across the country are employing autistic people, but if we are to get more than three in 10 autistic people into work, we need to do more. Will my noble friend consider a mentoring scheme whereby those who have employed autistic people can sign up to help others and advise them to do the same? If she would like to know how this can work, I will happily provide her with some examples.

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend and will be delighted to talk to him about examples and take them back to the department. He is right to focus on the importance of supporting employers; there are many who want to do the right thing but may not know how best to do it. Business-to-business mentoring can be key, and my noble friend will perhaps be reassured to know that we are exploring the benefits of business-to-business mentoring as part of our regional Vanguard employer work as part of Keep Britain Working. In the meantime, the Disability Confident scheme encourages collaboration between employers, including peer-to-peer learning; and connect to work, our specialist voluntary supported employment programme, works directly with employers to help secure and sustain jobs. My noble friend is absolutely right to push on this area.