Autistic Adults: Employment

Baggy Shanker Excerpts

Tuesday 11th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Mike Reader (Northampton South) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart) for securing this debate, and to her constituents for joining us today in Westminster Hall.

I am proud to be a member of the Labour party—it is the party for workers; it recognises the dignity that we get from work, and that work is the foundation for independence, confidence and wellbeing. I have heard many stories in my constituency about how stable and secure employment has transformed the lives of people with autism and other disabilities. The key words there are “stable” and “secure”; to unlock people’s potential, we must ensure that work is consistent, meaningful and fulfilling.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

When given the right tools and support to succeed, we know that members of the autistic community can thrive in the workplace. Despite research showing that the majority of working-age autistic people want to work, the reality is that only about three in 10 do so. Local to me, Autism West Midlands champions autistic communities and supports service users into work, both by providing coaching and by making workplaces better for them.

[Karl Turner (in the Chair)]

Order. This is supposedly an intervention. If you want to ask him a question, please do so, but do not read a speech.

[Baggy Shanker]

Thank you, Mr Turner. Does my hon. Friend agree that services such as those are vital in building the skills and confidence that help these people work?

[Mike Reader]

I agree that those services are critical—we are seeing that at first hand in Northamptonshire; when placements and employment opportunities collapse, when local provision disappears, and when funding dries up, people lose trust in the system.

The reality is that, across the country, the support network available to autistic adults is fragile. We rely on a patchwork of charities, specialist employers and often the good will of large organisations to make the investments needed to open up the opportunities that the hon. Member for Hazel Grove spoke about. When part of that network collapses, the impact is immediate and devastating, and that is exactly what we are seeing in Northampton.

For over 40 years, Workbridge has been a lifeline to many in my community. It is a place where people with autism, learning difficulties and mental health challenges are able to build confidence, learn new skills and contribute to our community through meaningful employment and volunteering. It provides a café, garden centre and workshops for many. But it is all set to close. Last week we found out that St Andrew’s Healthcare had withdrawn funding from it to try to patch up its main business, which is rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission. I have been contacted by residents—by email, by letter and, actually, quite a lot on Remembrance Sunday—who are shocked and, frankly, devasted that this community institution will be closing. It is quite unforeseen.

The former Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall), visited Workbridge in July and described it as a shining example of how social prescribing programmes work and of what we need across our country. There are many questions, including: how can the organisation go from promoting itself to the Government as best in class to closing within six months? I am meeting the chief executive officer next week to ask the questions that constituents are asking me about how this has happened and why Workbridge is being sacrificed to prop up the rest of the business.

Before I finish, I will highlight a positive example from Northampton. Nordis Signs, a business supported by Kier Group and Kier Highways, is a local employer that has operated in my constituency for the best part of 50 years. It provides work for adults with disabilities, including autism, by providing signs for the highways network right across the country. It is a great example of how secure work has enabled people to create careers. When I visited this summer, I met people who had worked there for over 30 years and were so proud of the work that they deliver. To have a business like that making such a positive contribution to our community is fantastic. It is a great example of how being both commercially sound and socially responsible can make sure that businesses deliver.

The lessons are clear: when we invest in supported employment everyone benefits, but when that support disappears, the fragile system will struggle to replace it. I stand by to support those who will lose their jobs or volunteering opportunities through the closure of Workbridge, and my office is working hard with West Northants council and local groups to try to re-provide that provision in Northampton. I hope the Minister will make time to meet me to discuss this issue, particularly as her Department visited and praised the work of Workbridge in July. I thank the hon. Member for Hazel Grove again for securing this critical debate, and I thank her constituents for joining us in the Public Gallery.