Parliament debates Minister for Neurodiversity for the first time

Parliament debates a Minister for Neurodiversity

Not one government minister is responsible for neurodivergent people. On 11 November, Parliament heard the case for changing that.

Adam Dance, the dyslexic and ADHD MP for Yeovil, opened a Westminster Hall debate calling for a Minister for Neurodiversity. He spoke from his own life experience, and set out what we hear from our community every day: health, schools, work and justice each work alone, and when neurodivergent people get no support, nobody is held to account.

Why one minister

The decisions that shape neurodivergent lives are split across Health, Education, Work and Pensions, and Justice. Nobody is in charge of how they fit together.

The figures Adam Dance put to the House show what that means for people:

•       People wait at least two years for the NHS to see them for an ADHD or autism assessment.

•       In Somerset, more than 85% of children wait 20 to 52 weeks for the help in their Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), the legal plan for what a child gets at school, to actually start.

•       Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are 80% more likely to end up out of education, work and training.

•       Between 250,000 and 600,000 autistic adults over 50 in England have never been recognised.

•       Guidance from Ofsted and Prevent has linked autistic people’s special interests to a risk of extremism.

At the same time, the NHS is being restructured, SEND is being overhauled, welfare is being reformed and local government is being reorganised. Each change will reshape the support neurodivergent people can count on. Right now, nobody in government answers for us through any of it. We need one person to join the dots across departments.

What was asked

MP Adam Dance made three asks of the government:

1.     Create the post, either by restructuring existing ministerial roles or by amending the Ministers of the Crown Act to allow more ministers.

2.     Give the minister funded statutory powers, and one neurodiversity strategy across government for them to deliver, so the role has teeth.

3.     Put the Minister for Neurodiversity in the Cabinet Office, where they can work across every department.

He also asked for something that could happen straight away: a civil service review of how neurodiversity policy works across departments, and a meeting with him and campaigners once it reports.

Finally, he asked the government to look again at his ten-minute rule bill, the Neurodivergence (Screening and Teacher Training) Bill, which would bring in universal neurodivergence screening for children at primary school.

What the government said

The minister responding accepted the case being made, but said appointing ministers is for the Prime Minister alone. She said neurodiversity is a “core focus” for government, meant to run through every department rather than sit with one.

She pointed to funding already announced:

•       £4 billion for more inclusive SEND support across early years, schools, colleges and councils

•       £3.7 billion in capital funding from 2025 to 2030 to create 60,000 new specialist school places

•       £200 million to train teachers and support staff in SEND and inclusion

•       More than £500 million a year, for three years, for the Inclusive Mainstream Fund

She said the government is moving to help based on what a child needs, so support comes before anyone has a diagnosis rather than depending on one. She also pointed to the Neurodiversity Expert Panel’s report, published on 2 October, on hiring, keeping and promoting neurodivergent people at work, and to the Education for All Bill, announced in the King’s Speech and due this parliamentary session.

On the two direct asks, she committed to:

•       Take the ten-minute rule bill back to the Department for Education to review

•       Arrange a meeting on the proposal for a Minister for Neurodiversity, though not necessarily with her, while responsibility for the brief is clarified

What happens next

Three things were agreed:

•       A meeting will be arranged on the proposal for a Minister for Neurodiversity.

•       The minister will send the ten-minute rule bill to the Department for Education.

•       The minister will take the points raised in the debate to the departments responsible.

Adam Dance’s screening bill is also listed for its second reading in the Commons on 29 January 2027.

The funding matters, and so does help that doesn’t wait for a diagnosis. But money spread across departments is not the same as someone who answers for how it all fits together. The figures cited were almost all about schools. They don’t touch two-year NHS waits, adults who never got an answer, or the justice system.

That is the gap a Minister for Neurodiversity would fill. We’ll be pushing for that meeting, and we’ll keep campaigning and lobbying until the job exists. Then we’ll keep going, making sure whoever holds it delivers for our community.

Back the campaign

Every name we add makes the case harder to ignore. Join us at thehidden.charity/join and help us get a Minister for Neurodiversity.