Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the adequacy of back-to-work programmes for autistic people seeking long-term employment in Surrey.

The DWP are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including autistic people, with their employment journey and there are currently a number of initiatives to support individuals, including autistic people, to return to work.

These include:

- Pathways to Work Advisers are delivering support in Jobcentres for disabled people and people with health conditions to help them move towards and into work, building on and expanding existing evidenced measures like additional work coach support. On 6 March 2025 we announced the deployment of 1000 Pathway to Work Advisers to help people with health conditions and disabled people towards and into work.

- Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres offer advice and knowledge on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work;

- Connect to Work is DWP’s voluntary, locally led Supported Employment Programme that will help disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment. For neurodivergent people, Connect to Work has a specialist pathway that is dedicated to supporting those with particularly complex barriers. It follows the Supported Employment Quality Framework, which is backed by an international evidence base and has been proven to support neurodivergent people into sustainable employment. Connect to Work will be across all of England and Wales and will support over 300,000 people over five years. For the Surrey Connect to Work delivery area, Surrey County Council are the lead authority. Their Connect to Work service is live and more information, including how to apply for support, can be found here:Connect to Work - Surrey County Council

- Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, which combines psychological treatment and employment support for people with mental health conditions; and

- WorkWell, a new way to deliver integrated work and health support that is designed by local partnerships. Sites went live from October 2024 in 15 areas in England including Surrey Heartlands and Frimley ICB which covers Surrey Heath. It provides a low intensity holistic support for health and disability related barriers to employment, and a single joined up gateway to existing local work and health service provision.

We carry out a wide range of research and evaluations to ensure we can best support people with disabilities and health conditions, and evaluation is a key driver in delivering DWP’s priority outcomes and ensuring alignment with the Government’s Plan for Change. As set out in the DWP Evidence and Evaluation Strategy, ongoing evaluation of new and existing initiatives assesses whether they are achieving intended results and informs future policy design. However, no assessment has been made of adequacy of back-to-work programmes and Government-funded employment support schemes specifically for disabled and neurodivergent people, including autistic people, specifically in Surrey Heath.