Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Access to Work Hidden Impairments Specialist Team is able to refer people to specialist autism-specific support.

The Access to Work Hidden Impairments Speciality team is already able to award funding for specialist support for people on the autistic spectrum.

Access to Work is a discretionary grant award which provides a contribution towards disability related extra costs in the workplace above the level of reasonable adjustments. The scheme funds a wide variety of solutions appropriate to each person’s individual circumstances, on a case by case basis, including:

• Specialist assessments
• Specialist support workers
• Travel to work support
• Autism awareness training for colleagues to combat stigma and workplace bullying
• Innovative technological solutions, such as smartphone apps.