Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission research to investigate the potential link between births by caesarean section and the incidence of autism and ADHD.

The Department has no plans to commission research on this topic. The Department's National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including potential links between births by caesarean section and the incidence of autism and ADHD. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.