Written questions by Anderson.

What steps his department is taking to raise awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer.

The Government is determined to cut waiting times and improve outcomes for all cancers, including bowel cancer. The National Cancer Plan was published on 4 February 2026, which will ensure that three in every four people diagnosed with cancer are either cancer‑free or living well five years after diagnosis.Early diagnosis is a key priority and the plan commits to develop and deliver more proactive approaches to identifying people at risk of cancer through symptomatic case finding, additional support for general practitioners (GPs), and genomic testing. The Department will continue to support the Gateway C digital training platform, and a new generation of digital support tools will help to flag concerning symptoms or test results to GPs for all cancers. As part of this, NHS England will pilot an incentive which encourages the use of electronic safety netting to increase the number of people who complete checks for bowel cancer.Further actions to improve early diagnosis of bowel cancer includes rolling out increased faecal immunochemical test sensitivity aimed at catching more cancers earlier. The programme, with lowered threshold and combined with increased uptake, will deliver 17,000 earlier diagnoses by 2035.The NHS Bowel Cancer screening Programme already offers people aged 50 to 74 years old screening every two years. The programme is undergoing several updates to its standards aimed at improving coverage, accessibility, and early detection. This includes updated performance thresholds, and improved accessibility of bowel cancer screening kits.The NHS Cancer Programme commissioned the Royal College of Surgeons to deliver new cancer clinical audits, which included an audit for bowel cancer, with the aim to strengthen cancer services by looking at all treatments and patient outcomes across England and Wales and reduce inequalities across the country.Finally, on raising awareness, NHS England also runs national campaigns, most recently in early 2025, to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and to encourage people to see their GP as soon as possible if they notice a change in their health. The campaigns cover bowel cancer and have focused on increasing awareness of a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging general body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce international maritime drug smuggling through British ports.

Border Force runs a 24/7 operation, with its officers working at over 140 sea and airports across the UK and overseas. We are determined to protect the public from drug trafficking and crack down on organised crime groups behind illicit drugs supply by tackling all stages of the supply chain. In the year ending March 2025, Border Force seized over 150 tonnes of illegal drugs, this is a 40% increase on the amount seized in the year ending March 2024.Home Office officials led by the Border Security Command (working with the Police and the National Crime Agency) continue to explore all the new and emerging technologies that are available to help identify and intercept the vessels and individuals involved in smuggling drugs in the maritime environment, and our intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities remain amongst the best in the world. For reasons of national security, it would not be appropriate to go into greater detail.

What steps he is taking to reduce assessment times for autism diagnoses.

The Government has recognised that, nationally, demand for assessments for autism has grown significantly in recent years and that people are experiencing severe delays accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future, and reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities system focus on improving early intervention and support.It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to appropriate mental health support and services, as well as access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.Through the Medium-term planning framework, published 24 October, NHS England has set clear expectations for local ICBs and trusts to improve access, experience, and outcomes for autism and ADHD services over the next three years, focusing on improving quality and productivity.In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services, which can be found at the following link:www.england.nhs.uk/publication/autism-diagnosis-and-operational-guidanceThis guidance intends to help the NHS improve autism assessment services and the experience for those referred to a service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism, based on the available evidence.Since publication, NHS England has been supporting systems and services to identify where there are challenges for implementation and how they might overcome these.In December, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, launched an independent review into the prevalence and support for mental health conditions, ADHD, and autism. This review will inform a new approach to mental health that reduces waiting times, improves the quality of care, and promotes prevention and early intervention.The review’s interim report, published at the end of March, sets out the evidence reviewed so far on prevalence, describes the impact of rising demand for diagnosis and support, identifies where the evidence is uncertain, and outlines the key questions for the next phase. The final report, due in the summer, will make recommendations on how the Government, the health system, and wider public services can respond to increasing demand for support more fairly and effectively so that people receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place.

What steps his department is taking to ensure people living with bowel cancer can access suitable support.

The Government and the National Health Service are taking crucial steps to improve cancer experience for patients across England, including for bowel cancer.NHS England aims to empower individuals with choice and control over their health and care through personalised care, focusing on promoting independence, good health, and well-being. This includes provision of information, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer. Where appropriate, every person diagnosed with bowel cancer will have access to personalised care, including a needs assessment, a care plan, and health and wellbeing information and support.The recently published National Cancer Plan aims to redesign cancer services around people’s lives, not just around hospitals, recognising that more people are living for longer with and beyond cancer and need ongoing, coordinated support. We will ensure patients have a named neighbourhood lead to help coordinate their care locally, working alongside hospital specialists to provide continuity, reduce fragmentation, and make it easier for people to navigate services. More cancer care and support will be delivered closer to home, including a universal digital-first prehabilitation offer, expanded supportive oncology, greater use of virtual monitoring, and growing opportunities for treatment and follow-up in community settings where safe and appropriate.

What steps his Department have taken to help support research into the causes of autism.

The Government is committed to supporting people with neurodevelopmental conditions, including autistic people, and we are taking action to increase awareness and understanding of autism across the health and social care sector, education, and employment.The Health and Care Act 2022 requires that, from 1 July 2022, health and care providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) must ensure their staff receive specific training on autism appropriate to their role. This will ensure that health and care staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and appropriate care for autistic people. As part of this, significant progress has been made to roll out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism which has been designed and is delivered alongside people with lived experience. Over three million people have now completed the e-learning component of the training and the statutory Code of Practice for this training has been published.NHS England has also taken action to increase understanding of autism within mental health services specifically by supporting the transition of the National Autism Trainer Programme in mental health services to become embedded 'business as usual' training. 5,000 trainers have been trained who will be cascading the training to teams across mental health services, residential special schools and colleges, and youth justice settings. NHS England also commissioned the Royal College of Psychiatrists to deliver the National Autism Training Programme for Psychiatrists, with over 300 psychiatrists trained in the past three years.Work is also underway to raise awareness of autism in education settings. The Schools White Paper, Every child achieving and thriving, and consultation on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms published on 23 February outline plans to increase education staff understanding of SEND, including autism, through improved training and better access to experts, building on the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme. The Every child achieving and thriving White Paper is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thrivingThe Government is also committed to raising awareness of all forms of neurodiversity, including autism, in the workplace and the Department for Work and Pensions launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity in January 2025 to advise on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work.Government responsibility for delivering research into autism is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation, which includes the Medical Research Council (MRC).The MRC generally focusses on early biomedical research, including cellular and animal models, while the NIHR funds translational and applied research, where treatments and interventions are tested in real world populations and health and care settings. An example of NIHR investment in autism research is the £2.8 million SAFE trial, which aims to develop interventions to better support and improve the wellbeing of families of autistic children. As well as funding research itself, the Department of Health and Social Care invests significantly in research expertise and capacity, specialist facilities, support services, and collaborations to support and deliver research in England, known as NIHR infrastructure. This includes the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, which has supported research into the brain signalling of individuals with autism to help develop a range of targeted medicine choices.The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including autism.

Whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential link between increases in digital communication methods and speech, language and communication needs in children.

We recognise that digital devices are now a part of most children’s lives, and that their impact on development, health, and behaviour is complex and not yet fully understood. Last month, the Government published advice on screen use for children aged zero to five years old, which is available at the following link:https://beststartinlife.gov.uk/screen-time-under-5s/The Government has also launched the Children’s Digital Wellbeing consultation on measures to ensure children have healthy relationships with technology, mobile phones, and social media. The consultation is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/growing-up-in-the-online-world-a-national-consultationIn addition, the Government will produce evidence-based screen time guidance for parents of children aged five to 16 years old.We continue to learn from ongoing studies including the Children of the 2020s longitudinal study, which is available at the following link:https://children2020s.ipsos.com/

What steps his department is taking to provide earlier diagnosis for bowel cancer.

The Government is determined to cut waiting times and improve outcomes for all cancers, including bowel cancer. The National Cancer Plan was published on 4 February 2026, which will ensure that three in every four people diagnosed with cancer are either cancer‑free or living well five years after diagnosis.Early diagnosis is a key priority and the plan commits to develop and deliver more proactive approaches to identifying people at risk of cancer through symptomatic case finding, additional support for general practitioners (GPs), and genomic testing. The Department will continue to support the Gateway C digital training platform, and a new generation of digital support tools will help to flag concerning symptoms or test results to GPs for all cancers. As part of this, NHS England will pilot an incentive which encourages the use of electronic safety netting to increase the number of people who complete checks for bowel cancer.Further actions to improve early diagnosis of bowel cancer includes rolling out increased faecal immunochemical test sensitivity aimed at catching more cancers earlier. The programme, with lowered threshold and combined with increased uptake, will deliver 17,000 earlier diagnoses by 2035.The NHS Bowel Cancer screening Programme already offers people aged 50 to 74 years old screening every two years. The programme is undergoing several updates to its standards aimed at improving coverage, accessibility, and early detection. This includes updated performance thresholds, and improved accessibility of bowel cancer screening kits.The NHS Cancer Programme commissioned the Royal College of Surgeons to deliver new cancer clinical audits, which included an audit for bowel cancer, with the aim to strengthen cancer services by looking at all treatments and patient outcomes across England and Wales and reduce inequalities across the country.Finally, on raising awareness, NHS England also runs national campaigns, most recently in early 2025, to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and to encourage people to see their GP as soon as possible if they notice a change in their health. The campaigns cover bowel cancer and have focused on increasing awareness of a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging general body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point.

What steps he is taking to reduce the waiting time for NHS children’s speech and language therapy support in (a) Ashfield, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) nationally.

Community health services, including children’s speech and language therapy, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities.The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) recognises that waiting times for children’s speech and language therapy (SLT) remain too long in parts of Nottinghamshire, including Ashfield, and is taking action with system partners to improve access.Since the 2023 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) inspection of local services for children and young people with SEND, the ICB and partners have undertaken targeted transformation activity, including:- introduction of a SLT advice line to support earlier intervention;- refocusing clinical capacity to address long waits in autism pathways; and- piloting open-access early years drop-in sessions for children under four year olds.A revised service delivery model is being implemented across SLT pathways, including:- group assessment of all two to three year olds;- increased use of group-based therapy and parent-supported interventions; and- enhanced parent/carer training to support children at home.These changes will be implemented alongside additional improvements to the model, including building workforce capacity and capability and improving support to schools and early years settings.Nationally, ICBs are being supported to reduce waiting times through an evidence informed Children and Young People Community Speech and Language Therapy Toolkit developed with speech and language therapists, children, families, and carers.We have set a clear target through the Medium-Term Planning Framework for systems to work to reduce long waits for community health services, including speech and language therapy.By 2028/29, at least 80% of community health services activity should take place within 18 weeks. This will be a key part of the shift from hospital to community. In 2026/27, ICBs and community health services providers must also develop plans to eliminate 52 week waits. Whilst targets are not service-line specific, capacity growth and waiting time targets should impact positively on children and young people’s speech and language therapy services.NHS England is also working with the Department for Education to identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs to deliver the Early Language Support for Every Child programme in Early Years and Primary School settings. This programme is funding innovative workforce models to support early intervention for children with unidentified speech, language, and communication needs which may reduce exacerbation of need that might lead to a specialist speech and language therapist and/or Education Health Care Plan referral in the medium-term.

What steps he is taking to raise awareness of the signs of autism in adults.

The Government is committed to supporting people with neurodevelopmental conditions, including autistic people, and we are taking action to increase awareness and understanding of autism across the health and social care sector, education, and employment.The Health and Care Act 2022 requires that, from 1 July 2022, health and care providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) must ensure their staff receive specific training on autism appropriate to their role. This will ensure that health and care staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and appropriate care for autistic people. As part of this, significant progress has been made to roll out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism which has been designed and is delivered alongside people with lived experience. Over three million people have now completed the e-learning component of the training and the statutory Code of Practice for this training has been published.NHS England has also taken action to increase understanding of autism within mental health services specifically by supporting the transition of the National Autism Trainer Programme in mental health services to become embedded 'business as usual' training. 5,000 trainers have been trained who will be cascading the training to teams across mental health services, residential special schools and colleges, and youth justice settings. NHS England also commissioned the Royal College of Psychiatrists to deliver the National Autism Training Programme for Psychiatrists, with over 300 psychiatrists trained in the past three years.Work is also underway to raise awareness of autism in education settings. The Schools White Paper, Every child achieving and thriving, and consultation on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms published on 23 February outline plans to increase education staff understanding of SEND, including autism, through improved training and better access to experts, building on the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme. The Every child achieving and thriving White Paper is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thrivingThe Government is also committed to raising awareness of all forms of neurodiversity, including autism, in the workplace and the Department for Work and Pensions launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity in January 2025 to advise on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work.Government responsibility for delivering research into autism is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation, which includes the Medical Research Council (MRC).The MRC generally focusses on early biomedical research, including cellular and animal models, while the NIHR funds translational and applied research, where treatments and interventions are tested in real world populations and health and care settings. An example of NIHR investment in autism research is the £2.8 million SAFE trial, which aims to develop interventions to better support and improve the wellbeing of families of autistic children. As well as funding research itself, the Department of Health and Social Care invests significantly in research expertise and capacity, specialist facilities, support services, and collaborations to support and deliver research in England, known as NIHR infrastructure. This includes the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, which has supported research into the brain signalling of individuals with autism to help develop a range of targeted medicine choices.The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including autism.

What steps his Department has taken to support research into (a) causes and (b) treatment of bowel cancer.

Government responsibility for delivering cancer research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation, which includes the Medical Research Council (MRC).The MRC generally focusses on early biomedical research, including cellular and animal models, while the NIHR funds translational and applied research, where treatments and interventions are tested in real world populations and health and care settings.The Department of Health and Social Care recognises the crucial need for research into all forms of cancer, including bowel cancer. We are supporting research into bowel cancer across a range of areas.This includes, for example, over £2.2 million of NIHR investment in the CONSCOP2 study, a randomised controlled trial designed to investigate a new approach to screening for right sided bowel cancer.As well as funding research itself, the Department of Health and Social Care invests significantly in centres of excellence and collaborations, services, and facilities to support health and care research. Collectively these form the NIHR infrastructure. The NIHR infrastructure works with patients, clinicians, academics, and health services to support research into the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of bowel cancer. This includes the development of novel diagnostics, biomarkers, and therapeutic approaches as well as ensuring that effective bowel cancer innovations, once proven, are implemented nationally.The NIHR continues to welcome high quality applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including bowel cancer. 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 the public and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.In addition, the National Cancer Plan has patients at its heart and covers the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention, and research and innovation. It seeks to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. This plan prepares the National Health Service to seize scientific breakthroughs, so patients benefit from the full power of modern innovation, by trialing new technologies such as the COLOFIT algorithm for bowel cancer.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support domestic ferry companies.

Domestic ferry companies operate their services predominantly in a commercial environment without intervention from the Government.The Department for Transport continues to engage with domestic ferry companies and wider local stakeholders.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve the water quality of open water in Ashfield constituency.

The Environment Agency will publish updated water body classifications later this year (https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/England/classifications). This will provide a measure of the health of the water environment, focusing on the effects of pollution from sources like sewage, industry, and farming. These classifications guide regulatory decisions and drive investment, such as the £22.1bn that water companies across England will spend on infrastructure, and environmental improvements between 2025-2030. In Ashfield, by 2030, Severn Trent will deliver 46 new environmental actions on top of the 20 actions completed between 2020–2025. These actions can include small developments in a sewage treatment works, stopping sewage overflows, through to large interventions such as complete changes to sewage treatment.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the quality of open water in Ashfield constituency.

The Environment Agency will publish updated water body classifications later this year (https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/England/classifications). This will provide a measure of the health of the water environment, focusing on the effects of pollution from sources like sewage, industry, and farming. These classifications guide regulatory decisions and drive investment, such as the £22.1bn that water companies across England will spend on infrastructure, and environmental improvements between 2025-2030. In Ashfield, by 2030, Severn Trent will deliver 46 new environmental actions on top of the 20 actions completed between 2020–2025. These actions can include small developments in a sewage treatment works, stopping sewage overflows, through to large interventions such as complete changes to sewage treatment.

What steps she is taking to help ensure British ports operate at high efficiency.

The United Kingdom has a world leading maritime sector, including its ports. The ports sector is largely privatised, so government direct intervention is limited. Whilst there are some government bodies who do direct day to day work within ports, matters that fall within the DfT’s jurisdiction are ones concerned with safety. The department does have a range of grant programs designed to support the wider UK ports sector, with these programs aimed at supporting the transition to a green economy and at modal shift towards rail and water. We are working with other Departments to strengthen and streamline planning, including by updating the National Policy Statement for Ports.

What steps the Government are taking to help increase employment opportunities for people with autism.

The Government is committed to supporting all neurodivergent people, including autistic people, into and at work. This is part of our wider commitment to drive healthy and inclusive workplaces for all. Our employment support for neurodivergent people is led by DWP’s £1 billion, voluntary, locally-led Supported Employment programme, Connect to Work. It covers all of England and Wales, with the exception of Greater Manchester which is using their Connect to Work funding to pilot their Prevention Demonstrator, through their Integrated Settlement. Connect to Work will support around 300,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and individuals with complex barriers to employment by the end of the decade. It offers intensive, personalised employment support to help people move into and stay in paid employment, and is built around two internationally recognised evidence-based Supported Employment frameworks: Individual Placement and Support, and the Supported Employment Quality Framework. The latter has been specifically designed to support neurodivergent people and those with learning disabilities into sustainable jobs. Crucially, Connect to Work supports both participants and employers, helping to ensure that individuals are given the best chance to succeed once in work. We recognise that supporting employers to understand the needs of neurodivergent employees is also key to our efforts. This year we funded free-of-charge neurodiversity masterclasses, delivered by ACAS, to help small and medium sized businesses build their understanding of neurodivergence and improve workplace support. Over 1800 representatives of small and medium sized businesses attended these masterclasses. As announced early this year, we are reforming our Disability Confident scheme by strengthening its criteria and expectations to drive meaningful change across its approximately 19,000 employer members and the estimated 11.5 million employees working in their organisations. The reforms will provide clearer, more robust guidance on inclusive recruitment and retention, including for autistic people; and these reforms are being closely aligned with the work of the Keep Britain Working Review. As part of the vanguard phase of the Keep Britain Working Review, we are working directly with employers to identify what “good” looks like in inclusive workplace practice, including for neurodivergent employees. This vanguard phase includes over 150 volunteer employers and 10 regions and will, over the next three years, work with government to test employer-led approaches to support individuals to stay in and return to work. Finally, last year, DWP launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and lived experiences of neurodiversity to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. The panel considered the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate. DWP has now received a final version of the Panel’s report and is considering its findings.

What steps her Department is taking to promote the use of regional airports.

Regional airports are vital in addressing transport inequity by connecting all regions of the UK to national and international opportunities. They serve our local communities by supporting thousands of jobs while maintaining social and family ties and strengthening the bonds between the four nations. Government supports connectivity across the union through our joint funding of two Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes into London from Dundee and Derry/Londonderry. The UK aviation market operates predominantly in the private sector. Airports invest in their infrastructure to attract passengers and airlines, while airlines are well placed to deliver services to their customers by responding to demand for different routes. Ministers and officials at the Department meet regularly with regional airports to discuss issues such as regional air connectivity.

What information his Department holds on trends in the number of jobs in the oil and gas sector since 2023.

The Government holds information on employment trends in the oil and gas sector from a range of sources, including industry data and independent research. The Office for National Statistics estimates that direct employment in the sector was around 27,000 in 2023 and around 28,000 in 2024 on a provisional basis.Analysis shows strong skills transferability from oil and gas to offshore clean energy roles.

What steps he is taking to help support autistic people to find employment.

The Government is committed to supporting all neurodivergent people, including autistic people, into and at work. This is part of our wider commitment to drive healthy and inclusive workplaces for all. Our employment support for neurodivergent people is led by DWP’s £1 billion, voluntary, locally-led Supported Employment programme, Connect to Work. It covers all of England and Wales, with the exception of Greater Manchester which is using their Connect to Work funding to pilot their Prevention Demonstrator, through their Integrated Settlement. Connect to Work will support around 300,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and individuals with complex barriers to employment by the end of the decade. It offers intensive, personalised employment support to help people move into and stay in paid employment, and is built around two internationally recognised evidence-based Supported Employment frameworks: Individual Placement and Support, and the Supported Employment Quality Framework. The latter has been specifically designed to support neurodivergent people and those with learning disabilities into sustainable jobs. Crucially, Connect to Work supports both participants and employers, helping to ensure that individuals are given the best chance to succeed once in work. We recognise that supporting employers to understand the needs of neurodivergent employees is also key to our efforts. This year we funded free-of-charge neurodiversity masterclasses, delivered by ACAS, to help small and medium sized businesses build their understanding of neurodivergence and improve workplace support. Over 1800 representatives of small and medium sized businesses attended these masterclasses. As announced early this year, we are reforming our Disability Confident scheme by strengthening its criteria and expectations to drive meaningful change across its approximately 19,000 employer members and the estimated 11.5 million employees working in their organisations. The reforms will provide clearer, more robust guidance on inclusive recruitment and retention, including for autistic people; and these reforms are being closely aligned with the work of the Keep Britain Working Review. As part of the vanguard phase of the Keep Britain Working Review, we are working directly with employers to identify what “good” looks like in inclusive workplace practice, including for neurodivergent employees. This vanguard phase includes over 150 volunteer employers and 10 regions and will, over the next three years, work with government to test employer-led approaches to support individuals to stay in and return to work. Finally, last year, DWP launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and lived experiences of neurodiversity to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. The panel considered the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate. DWP has now received a final version of the Panel’s report and is considering its findings.

What information his Department holds on trends in the average cost of household energy bills since 2023.

The department publishes statistics on domestic electricity and gas bills, based on data provided to the department by energy suppliers.Annual domestic energy bills - GOV.UK

What steps her Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of support guidelines in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools for children with autism.

To ensure teachers can support children before needs escalate, the department will develop National Inclusion Standards that set out evidence-informed tools, strategies and approaches for educators across the 0 to 25 system, to use in identifying and supporting children and young people with additional needs.Access to support should not be dependent on a child or young person having a diagnosis. Educators will be able to draw on the National Inclusion Standards to put in place evidence-based support as needs are identified, including for autistic children and young people.From this year, schools will be held to account on the use of their inclusion funding in the form of an Inclusion Strategy. This will ensure schools are taking steps through evidence-based activities and approaches to embed inclusive practice. Ofsted will be able to draw on the strategy to assess how effectively leaders are planning for, implementing and delivering inclusive practice.