Contribution
I will ensure that someone meets the hon. Member. I am not sure whether that meeting will be with me; I need to clarify responsibility and portfolio on that, because it is technically the Prime Minister who would appoint the Minister for neurodiversity, but I will come back to the hon. Member on that and arrange an appropriate meeting.
The hon. Member touched a bit on employment and neurodiversity, though I appreciate there is more to be said. It is incredibly important, particularly as we await the Milburn review and things we will be doing more broadly to support the population. Good work, good health and wellbeing for neurodivergent people is incredibly important. In 2025, the DWP launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and lived experience of neurodiversity to advise us as a Government on boosting awareness and inclusion in the workplace.
The panel considered why neurodivergent people often have poor experiences in the workplace and have a low overall employment rate. We welcomed the publication of the report by the expert academic panel on neurodiversity, alongside the Government response, on 2 October. The report highlights the valuable contribution that neurodivergent people make to our workforce and sets out recommendations to improve their recruitment, retention and progression in the workplace. Neurodivergence should not hold anyone back from achieving their potential in their workplace, or in their career more widely, as the hon. Member has shown. Our response sets out our work across Government with our stakeholders to increase work opportunities, and our continuing work focusing on needs-led support and inclusive workplace design to help employers better attract and retain talent.
We have also announced a training package, backed by £200 million of new funding, to ensure that teachers, educators, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, school and, importantly, post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with SEND and neurodivergence and to help them with employment readiness.
I am conscious of time, but I will touch on the inclusive mainstream fund, which forms part of the Government’s commitment to building a more inclusive mainstream education across the country. More than £500 million per financial year over the next three years will equip schools and, importantly, colleges, as well as early years settings, with up-front funding to help them to have a more inclusive design. Building on the consultation on SEND reform, the fund addresses historical gaps in early support to help to ensure that every child and young person benefits from high-quality adaptive teaching. Settings can use the IMF alongside core funding allocations to strengthen inclusion for all pupils. It focuses on a needs-led approach rather than a rigid set of boxes that need to be ticked. It will allow teachers, colleges and employers to focus on what the people they work with need.
The independent review led by Peter Fonagy has challenged us to think differently about supporting people with mental health and neurodivergent needs. We want people of all ages to have the right support at the right time without waiting for a diagnosis before they can access help. Through our forthcoming mental health strategy, we will set out how we will move towards earlier needs-led support and better integration between mental health and neurodevelopmental pathways. We want to provide earlier access to information, support and appropriate interventions based on individual needs, while improving timely access to high-quality diagnostic assessments when required.
I end by repeating the Government’s commitment to support people living with neurodiverse conditions. I again thank the hon. Member for Yeovil for securing a debate on this important issue. I know that he will continue to raise this issue, not just in proposing a Minister for neurodiversity, but in championing the needs of the neurodiverse population and what they require from the Government to ensure that they can be successful and thrive, not just in early years and school, but in higher education, employment and, later in life, in social care. I will ensure that everything the hon. Member raised in the debate lands with the relevant Government Departments. I will take away his request for a meeting to discuss further how we can have better representation in Government. We are committed to ensuring that the right services are available at the right time for the right people; our support for that will not waver.
Question put and agreed to.