§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money was spent in the NHS in the last year for which figures are available on treating people with autism; what research his Department has commissioned and is undertaking into the causes of autism; and if he will make a statement. [145420]
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§ Mr. HuttonData on National Health Service expenditure on treating people with autism are not held centrally.
There is a large volume of research on all aspects of autism. Details of projects can be found on the National Research Register (NRR), which also contains information on projects and trials funded by the Medical 161W Research Council (MRC) and other research funders. The NRR shows that there are currently 51 ongoing and 82 completed projects on autism. The MRC (which is funded mainly by the Government) recently announced that it has provided £344,000 to fund one of the largest studies of the causes of autism ever attempted.
§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children suffer from autism; and what proportion this represents of children(a) in total and (b) in each region. [145422]
§ Mr. HuttonIt is widely accepted that the estimated prevalence rate of classic autism is between four and five per 10,000 population. Prevalence of all autistic spectrum disorders is more difficult to estimate but could be as high as 91 per 10,000. These incidence figures would imply that, in England, between 5,000 and 6,000 children up to 18 years of age are affected by classic autism and that up to 110,000 children may be affected by autistic spectrum disorders. We have no evidence of variations in the incidence of autism across regions.