Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the long-term effect of the covid-19 lockdown on (a) mental and (b) physical health inequalities among (i) autistic people and (ii) other neurodivergent groups.

We recognise the challenges that autistic people and neurodivergent people and their families face as a result of the response to COVID-19, and it is clear that we need to understand how the response will affect these groups of people in the longer term.

The Department is currently exploring research opportunities to assess the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic response to vulnerable people such as those with learning disabilities and/or autism.