Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on potential Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set indicators on autism.

There have been no specific recent discussions between the Department and NHS England about including autism in NHS England’s Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set (CCG OIS). CCG OIS measures are developed from NHS Outcomes Framework indicators that can be measured at CCG level together with additional indicators developed by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). NICE makes recommendations for new CCG OIS indicators via a public consultation process and an Advisory Committee of senior clinicians and commissioners which consider both CCG OIS and Quality Outcomes Framework indicators. NICE is supported by the HSCIC which quality assure indicators through its expert processes.