Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support research into how neurodiverse conditions manifest in women.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

The NIHR is funding a number of research projects on neurodiverse conditions including research into a new psychometric tool assessing the presentation of autism in women.

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and social care, including neurodiverse conditions. 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.

Welcoming applications on neurodiverse conditions to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility, both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.