Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to publish a target for the autism employment gap.

We recognise the current disability employment gap. As set out in the King’s Speech last July, the government is committed to making the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people and introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers.

Addressing disability pay gaps will play a key role in boosting opportunity and household income for disabled people, as we deliver our programme for national renewal set out in the Plan for Change.

Disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting will provide transparency and vital data to help businesses identify and close pay gaps within their workforces. We also know that the current disability employment gap stands at 28 percentage points as of December 2024 and that for autistic people in particular the gap may be even more substantial.

We are committed to supporting all neurodivergent people in their employment journeys and reducing the employment gap, and on 29 January this year, we launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. Recommendations are due in the late summer.