Vital Signs: Learning disability & autism

Briefing · Parliament

MPs and peers press ministers on learning disability deaths, EHCP reform and autistic people's employment over the summer

1. 01The mortality gap for people with learning disabilities dominated a Lords question session on 20 July. Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat) argued that non-statutory reviews had 'changed nearly nothing' and called for a legally binding independent review of every death, pointing to a 20-year life expectancy gap; Baroness Merron (Labour) accepted the situation was 'far from acceptable' but defended the Government's accountability arrangements, including a new national patient dataset and a requirement for each integrated care board to have an executive lead on learning disability and autism. Lord Scriven returned to the theme on 25 June in a debate on healthcare services, warning that the specialist learning disability nursing pipeline had seen fewer than 500 student enrolments across the UK in autumn 2025, with zero in the south-east.
2. 02The health elements of education, health and care plans were contested during the Health Bill committee stage on 9 July. Dr Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat, Winchester), on behalf of a colleague, moved new clause 28 to give the first-tier tribunal power to order, rather than merely recommend, that EHCPs include health and social care provision. Dr Caroline Johnson (Conservative, Sleaford and North Hykeham) and Gregory Stafford (Conservative, Farnham and Bordon) both said the absence of a statutory obligation was 'a fundamental problem', while minister Karin Smyth (Labour, Bristol South) said ICBs were already expected to have an executive lead on SEND and that reform plans would embed accountability without the clause.
3. 03Autism and employment were debated in a Lords question session on 25 June. Baroness Sherlock (Labour) said the £1 billion 'connect to work' programme included a supported employment pathway for neurodivergent people and that a diagnosis was not a prerequisite for support. Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest (Conservative) raised the reduction of the Access to Work supported internship from 39 to 26 weeks, arguing it was not long enough for people with autism and learning disabilities to acquire the skills they needed. Baroness Leaman (Liberal Democrat) asked what targets had been set to expand supported internships to autistic people without an EHCP.
4. 04Rural councils' SEND funding featured prominently in a Commons Westminster Hall debate on 2 September. Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat, North Shropshire), who secured the debate, highlighted that Shropshire had seen a 21% annual rise in EHCPs. Perran Moon (Labour, Camborne and Redruth) said Cornwall received less than half the per-pupil SEND funding of Kensington and Chelsea, and Lewis Cocking (Conservative, Broxbourne) said a child in Camden received four times the high needs block funding of a child in Yorkshire. Minister Jim McMahon (Labour, Oldham West) said a grant covering 90% of high-needs-related deficits, projected to be worth more than £5 billion nationally, would be available subject to councils submitting approved local SEND reform plans.
5. 05Vaccine misinformation and autism claims arose in two separate debates. Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour, Calder Valley) stated plainly in a Commons debate on vaccination rates on 3 September that 'vaccines do not cause autism; they cause healthy children', while Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat, Mid Sussex) said Reform UK had 'refused to condemn Donald Trump's conspiracy theories linking vaccines to autism'. In the Health Bill committee on 16 July, Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat, North Shropshire) said the Reform leader had also refused to condemn 'unfounded claims about autism and paracetamol'.