Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for an autism assessment for adults in (a) Stockport constituency, (b) Stockport Borough, (c) Greater Manchester and (d) England.

The data requested is not held centrally. However, some relevant information can be drawn from the Mental Health Service Data Set (MHSDS).

Data from the MHSDS for the period from 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022 indicates that, for England, 60,860 patients aged 18 and over at the time of referral had an open referral for suspected autism. Of these 8,309 have received a first attended contact within the year. The median wait time for these 8,309 patients was 127 days.

For Greater Manchester, 2,270 patients had an open referral for suspected autism. Of these, 170 have received a first attended contact within the year. The median wait time for these 170 patients was 129 days.

For Stockport, 65 patients had an open referral for suspected autism. Of these, 10 have received a first attended contact within the year. The median wait time for these 10 patients was 994 days.