{"id":128585,"date":"2026-11-11T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=128585"},"modified":"2026-11-11T09:06:57","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T09:06:57","slug":"dwp-issues-major-employment-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/dwp-issues-major-employment-update\/","title":{"rendered":"DWP Issues Major Employment Update for People With Autism and ADHD As Four Support Schemes Confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Department for Work and Pensions (<strong>DWP<\/strong>) confirmed the available support following a parliamentary question from Labour MP Chris Evans, who asked what action was being taken to support workers\u2019 mental health in Wales. The response comes alongside a government-backed report examining barriers faced by neurodivergent people at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Four Government Programmes Aim To Improve Workplace Support<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>DWP minister Sir Stephen Timms identified four existing initiatives: Disability Confident, Access to Work, Keep Britain Working and the Support with Employee Health and Disability service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Wales Online, the minister explained that these <strong>programmes <\/strong>are intended to help employers recruit, retain and support people experiencing mental health difficulties or living with conditions such as autism and ADHD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/disability-confident-campaign\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Disability Confident<\/a> scheme operates throughout the UK, including Wales, and encourages businesses to adopt more inclusive recruitment and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/labours-employment-bill-no-more-cap\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"115681\">employment <\/a>practices. More than 1,000 participating employers are based in Wales, with their membership details published monthly on GOV.UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/access-to-work\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Access to Work<\/a> provides personalised assistance, including workplace assessments, specialist equipment, support workers and help with travel costs. Its <strong>Mental Health Support<\/strong> Service can also offer up to nine months of non-clinical assistance to employees requiring additional support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.support-with-employee-health-and-disability.dwp.gov.uk\/support-with-employee-health-and-disability\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Support with Employee Health and Disability<\/a> service offers employers guidance on managing absences, discussing health conditions and making reasonable workplace adjustments. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/keep-britain-working\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Keep Britain Working<\/a> focuses on helping people with long-term health conditions remain employed. Its <strong>Vanguard Phase<\/strong> is testing different approaches, while work is under way with the British Standards Institution to develop guidance for employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The programmes address an employment gap highlighted by government figures. The employment rate among disabled autistic people was reported at just 31%, compared with 54.7% for disabled people overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Employees struggling with mental health at work can access one-to-one support through Access to Work \u2014 at no cost to the employer. <br><br>Find out more: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pgl31FhYbr\">https:\/\/t.co\/pgl31FhYbr<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/NorthernEmployers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NorthernEmployers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/MentalHealth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MentalHealth<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jiSVk2rern\">pic.twitter.com\/jiSVk2rern<\/a><\/p>&mdash; JCP Northern Employers (@JCPNWEmployers) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JCPNWEmployers\/status\/2119731797726548370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 9, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>New Neurodiversity Report Calls for Changes to Workplace Practices<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The announcement follows the publication of an independent academic panel\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/expert-academic-panel-on-neurodiversity-final-report-and-recommendations\/expert-academic-panel-on-neurodiversity-final-report-and-recommendations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> on 2 October 2026, examining how employers and policymakers can improve employment opportunities for neurodivergent people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the DWP\u2019s Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity, workplace support should respond to an individual\u2019s practical needs rather than depend primarily on a formal diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chaired by Professor<strong> Amanda Kirby<\/strong>, the panel examined recruitment barriers, workplace adjustments, career progression and the challenges associated with conditions including autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its recommendations include introducing a two-week deadline for employers to respond to reasonable adjustment requests, reforming Disability Confident and increasing resources for Access to Work to reduce application backlogs. The panel also recommended improvements to<strong> workplace accessibility<\/strong>, including quieter environments, flexible working arrangements and clearer communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/news\/cost-of-living\/dwp-neurodiversity-mental-health-update-34861032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wales Online<\/a>, Sir Stephen said the department was continuing to work with employers and stakeholders to determine how the recommendations could be translated into practical action. He also distinguished neurodivergence from mental illness, while acknowledging that neurodivergent people may experience overlapping mental health difficulties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The government\u2019s approach therefore covers both existing employment assistance and ongoing work to improve workplace inclusion. The academic panel\u2019s recommendations remain proposals, while the four programmes outlined by the minister represent support already available or being developed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UK government has outlined four programmes designed to help people with neurodivergent conditions and mental health difficulties find and remain in employment. The measures include workplace grants, employer guidance and initiatives to improve disability inclusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128585"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128589,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128585\/revisions\/128589"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}