House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee report: Recommendations, government response and recent developments

Approximate read time: 15 minutes

On 10 June 2026 the House of Lords will debate the report from the House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee ‘Time to deliver: The Autism Act 2009 and the new autism strategy’ (23 November 2025, HL Paper 205 of session 2024–26).

1. Inquiry into the Autism Act 2009

1.1 Overview

The Autism Act 2009 requires the government to produce an autism strategy “for meeting the needs of adults in England with autistic spectrum conditions by improving the provision of relevant services to such adults”. This must be published alongside statutory guidance for the NHS and local authorities. In 2021, the government published the most recent autism strategy for 2021 to 2026 which included children and young people alongside adults for the first time.^[1]

The House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee looked at how well the Autism Act had been working, how it could work better in the future, and what the current autism strategy had achieved.^[2]

The inquiry was launched on 27 February 2025. ‘Oral evidence’ and ‘written evidence’ are available to read in full on the committee’s web pages. The committee’s report was published on 23 November 2025, and is also available in an accessible easy read version, ‘How well we think the law is working: Report about a law called the Autism Act 2009’.

1.2 Committee conclusions and recommendations for the next autism strategy

The committee concluded that while the act “was a critical step forward in the recognition of autistic people”, it said “successive governments have failed to deliver real change”. On the most recent strategy, for 2021 to 2026, the committee found “after the first year, there was no plan to deliver or fund the strategy”.^[3]

The committee found that autistic people had been experiencing “persistent inequalities”, including through education, health, work, and the criminal justice system.^[4]

The current autism strategy was drafted to apply until July 2026, so the committee’s main recommendation was for the government to “urgently develop and deliver the new autism strategy” ready for July.^[5] The committee said autistic people and those who support them should be meaningfully involved in every stage of the strategy’s development and delivery, and the government should “identify priority outcomes, produce a costed, deliverable plan to achieve them, and make clear who is responsible and accountable for delivery”.

The committee’s recommendations for the forthcoming strategy included that the government should:

• launch a new initiative to improve understanding and acceptance of autism and expand mandatory training on autism for public-facing staff
• invest in driving down autism assessment waiting times, while also developing and scaling up effective models for identification, assessment and lifelong support
• give services backing and incentives to provide low-level, integrated support to autistic people, to prevent care needs from escalating into crisis
• set a clear timeline and roadmap for development of strong community services, so that provisions in the Mental Health Act 2025 to end the unnecessary detention of autistic people and people with a learning disability can be commenced
• enable local authorities and NHS bodies to provide services for young autistic people during the transition to adulthood, alongside support across education, employment, housing and mental health
• build up capability for educating autistic children and young people across all types of education settings, supporting high-performing specialist schools as centres of excellence
• provide employers with better support and incentives for more autistic people to find, stay and thrive in work
• develop, test and implement effective ways to identify and support autistic people involved in the criminal justice system as victims, witnesses or offenders, building on recommendations in the July 2021 independent review ‘Neurodiversity in the criminal justice system: A review of evidence’

Committee chair Baroness Rock said:

To make the new strategy a success, the government must set realistic goals, make a plan to deliver them, monitor progress, and work together with autistic people and those who support them to build change.^[6]

2. Government response to the committee’s report

The government’s response to the report was published on 23 January 2026. It said:

We welcome the large amount of evidence gathered by the committee as well as the work it has done to ensure that autistic people, and those that support them, were able to participate in the development of its report. These recommendations will be considered alongside other evidence, engagement and relevant work underway across government, all of which will help to shape our future autism strategy.^[7]

2.1 New autism strategy

The government said “meaningful engagement will take time” and the current strategy would remain in force while work is under way.^[8] It said some work that is already in progress will start to address some of the committee’s recommendations and inform the next autism strategy, including special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms, the ‘Make work pay’ programme of work, and the independent review into the prevalence of and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.^[9]

2.2 Improving understanding and acceptance of autism

The government said that from 2022, there has been a statutory requirement for all Care Quality Commission registered health and care providers to ensure their staff receive training on learning disabilities and autism appropriate to their role.^[10]

The government also said work was under way to raise awareness of autism in education settings through projects including the ‘Partnerships for inclusion of neurodiversity in schools’ programme, and through family service practitioners in Best Start Family Hubs.^[11]

For the workplace, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 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”.^[12]

The government also pointed to work to make NHS services more accessible, including the roll out of digital records of reasonable adjustments for patients, and other changes such as more sensory-friendly environments.^[13]

2.3 Identification, assessment and support

The government recognised that autistic people had been struggling to access early, effective support, and said this was one of the reasons for launching the independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism.^[14] The government said the review’s work would include “exploring the evidence around clinical practice, the risks and benefits of medicalisation, and evidence on the role and value of diagnosis to individuals, their families and carers” as well as seeking to identify “approaches to provide different models of support and pathways within and beyond the NHS that promote prevention and early intervention, supplementing clinical support”.^[15]

The government’s response pointed to the ‘10 year health plan’s’ emphasis on early intervention and support, and said that NHS England was currently working to identify evidence-based good practice in supporting autistic people. This includes support which could be made available without diagnosis or while waiting for assessment.^[16]

The government also said its shift to ‘neighbourhood health services’ and local commissioning would lead to better joined up working over time.^[17] It also repeated its commitment to publish a 10 year workforce plan, ensuring the health workforce has “the right people in the right places with the right skills to assess and care for patients when they need it”.^[18]

2.4 Reducing health inequalities and building support in the community

The government acknowledged that autistic people tend to have poorer health outcomes across a range of measures than the general population.^[19] It said the 10 year health plan set out to tackle health inequalities, and for work on the next autism strategy, the government would “consider potential priorities for improving health outcomes for autistic people, based on data and evidence, and work with stakeholders and people with lived experience”.^[20]

The government noted the following work was under way:

• pilots of bespoke health checks designed for autistic people
• research to evaluate commonly used training for health professionals
• ongoing reviewing of every death of a person with a learning disability or an autistic person that is notified to LeDeR (a review process for learning from the lives and deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people)
• implementation of dynamic support registers under the Mental Health Act 2025, local registers to identify and mobilise support for people with a learning disability and autistic people who are at risk of admission to a mental health hospital

In the longer term, the government said it was anticipating better integration of health and care services once a national care service is created.^[21] This is to be informed by Baroness Casey’s independent commission into adult social care, which is due to provide a phase 1 report in 2026 on existing resources, and a phase 2 report in 2028 on the long term transformation of adult social care.^[22]

2.5 Access to education and work

The government said it would set out its reforms for SEND in its schools white paper.^[23] See section 3.3 of this briefing for recent developments since the government’s response to the committee.

On transitioning young people to employment, the government said services were in place, including youth employability coaches and youth hubs, which the government is aiming to expand to “every local area”.^[24] The government also said it is expanding the youth guarantee gateway, with young people on universal credit offered a dedicated session and follow up support, and an investment in workplace experience opportunities and job placements.

The DWP also commissioned Alan Milburn to lead an investigation into youth economic inactivity with a particular focus on the impact of mental health conditions and disability.^[25] An interim report was published on 28 May 2026. See section 3.3 of this briefing for further information.

The government said it was monitoring the disability employment gap, and was delivering “an ambitious programme to support individuals” to access work and supported employment.^[26]

Following the ‘Keep Britain working review’, the government said it was working on employer-led approaches to support individuals to stay in work.^[27] It also pointed to its announcement on 15 January 2026 setting out plans to reform and strengthen the ‘Disability confident’ scheme.^[28]

2.6 Criminal justice system

The government said that following the July 2021 independent review ‘Neurodiversity in the criminal justice system: A review of evidence’, a cross-government action plan had been implemented. The government said there had been developments including:

• a signposting strategy, which sets out how HM Courts and Tribunal Service connects users with additional needs to external support providers
• initiatives including the introduction of neurodiversity support managers in every public prison to provide staff with training, guidance and resources to facilitate reasonable adjustments
• work on data and information sharing and guidance^[29]

3. Recent developments

3.1 New autism and mental health strategies

In answer to a written question on 28 April 2026 asking what the timeline is for publishing a new autism strategy, the government repeated that the current strategy will remain in effect until a revised strategy is published.^[30] The government said:

We are carefully considering our approach to developing a new autism strategy, including our plans to work with other government departments and engage with stakeholders, including autistic people and their families, and will set out a position in due course.

We recognise that a large amount of evidence was gathered by the House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Inquiry Committee and we will consider this evidence, along with evidence from other government and independent reviews, papers, and reports. We recognise that meaningful engagement takes time, so a balance will need to be struck on the extent of the further engagement required.

On 15 May 2026 the government launched a call for evidence on a new mental health strategy.^[31] The government said that autistic people and people with ADHD face a much higher risk of developing a mental health condition, so the strategy will reflect the mental health needs of these groups. This is in addition to the dedicated cross-government autism strategy. The government said it would be engaging with stakeholders to consider extending the autism strategy to include ADHD.

3.2 Interim report of the independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism

On 31 March 2026, an interim report was published by the independent review into mental health conditions, autism and ADHD.^[32] The report said the review had been evaluating a range of evidence on prevalence, diagnosis rates and needs, and while that was complex:

What is clear is that services are under significant and sustained pressure, and that the status quo is unlikely to be sustainable or fair in its present form. This creates an opportunity, and indeed a responsibility, to consider how support might be organised differently: less dependent on diagnostic thresholds alone, more responsive to functional need, and more available through earlier, less intensive and more accessible forms of provision beyond specialist clinical settings.^[33]

The final report is expected in the summer of 2026.^[34] The government said it would inform the mental health strategy.^[35]

3.3 Young people and work interim report

The review into young people and work led by Alan Milburn published an interim report on 28 May 2026.^[36] It said, “Autistic young people can thrive in the right environment and collapse in the wrong one”. It found that among young people who are not in employment, education, or training, 22% cited autism as their main limiting condition. The review said benefits assessments lend themselves to a binary judgment of whether a person is able or unable to work, which “does not match the reality of many young people’s fluctuating or changing conditions”.

3.4 SEND reforms

In the King’s Speech 2026, the government announced the ‘Education for All Bill’.^[37] This follows the February 2026 white paper ‘Every child achieving and thriving’, which outlined plans to reform the system of support for children and young people with SEND needs.

Also in February 2026, the government launched the consultation ‘SEND reform: Putting children and young people first’. Measures proposed included an emphasis on making every school, nursery and college an inclusive setting in order that children with SEND needs could attend mainstream facilities. The government said this would be supported through the introduction of national inclusion standards, the provision of national SEND training for teachers and the requirement for each school to publish a legal inclusion strategy.^[38]

The paper also proposed a statutory duty on nurseries, schools and colleges to record and monitor special educational needs and provision in an individual support plan.^[39]

The consultation closed on 18 May 2026. The government has said that the changes would be a “decade long reform programme” with new legislation not expected to come into effect until September 2029.^[40]

3.5 Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 passed into law at the end of the 2024–26 session. During the passage of the bill, some organisations raised concerns about potential impacts of some of its measures on autistic children, particularly around the register of children not in school, powers to conduct home visits, and a focus on increasing school attendance, largely in mainstream settings.^[41] For example, Autism Alliance UK said:

The role of education is not to force all children into the same inflexible channel, but to enable them to thrive, to learn, to develop as individuals; and as a result, to be fulfilled and productive people. Autistic children and young people are not in school because provision in school is not accessible to them. Arbitrary and punitive measures delivered by schools and local authorities are not the answer and, as well as further damage to lives, will generate more pressure and greater costs for other services.^[42]

The government has argued that the measures will have a positive impact on children who need more support. In the bill’s children’s rights impact assessment, it said the register and closer contact with local authorities could improve understanding of decisions to home educate and issues such as off-rolling and bullying, as well as improving safeguarding.^[43]

3.6 Criminal justice update

A final update on the progress of the 2021 cross-government neurodiversity action plan for adults in the criminal justice system was published in January 2026.^[44] It concluded that there had been some improvements in staff and organisational awareness of the needs of neurodivergent people in prisons, and a range of initiatives were under way to boost staff capacity, information sharing and support available to individuals.

The report noted “the probation service will play an increasingly vital role as the government seeks to deliver the core recommendations of the independent sentencing review”, and scoping was underway to support targeted options for neurodiverse people under probation services.^[45]

4. Read more

• House of Commons Library, ‘Autism policy and services’, accessed 29 May 2026
• House of Commons, ‘Written question: Autism: Departmental coordination (129062)’, 28 April 2026; and ‘Written question: Autism: Health services (129064)’, 28 April 2026
• Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology, ‘Autism’, 23 January 2020

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