The final report of the government-commissioned Independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism could be published within weeks, potentially shaping future benefits decisions for people with these conditions.
The review, commissioned in December 2025 by the Department of Health and Social Care under former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, published an interim report on 31 March 2026. Originally expected to take three to six months, no final report had been published as of 1 September 2026, but the review still has until the end of September to report back.
Interim findings highlight diagnostic trends
The interim report concluded that the prevalence of ADHD in the population remains relatively stable, but diagnosis of the condition has greatly increased, especially among young women. However, even at the increased rate of diagnosis, the number of people identified as having ADHD is still lower than would be expected.
The report also found that treatment, especially medication, is becoming less common among children and young people. The report suggests this may “reflect the fact that diagnosis is sometimes being pursued for reasons other than medication alone—for example, to obtain explanation, validation, educational support or workplace adjustments.”
Concerns over benefits implications
The Benefits and Work disability forum warned: “It is hard not to see this as a suggestion, entirely unspoken by this review but perhaps to be said aloud by the Timms review, that a major reason “other than medication” is to obtain DLA or PIP.”
The forum added: “The Streeting review now intends to try to discover whether the severity or functional impairment of diagnosed cases has changed over time. Clearly if the conclusion is that severity has decreased, then this would be an argument for reducing benefits awards for conditions like ADHD.”
Government response and next steps
The government said: “This interim report is intended to clarify the current landscape, not to pre-empt the review’s final conclusions. It identifies a set of patterns that are now difficult to disregard rising distress among younger people, sharp growth in diagnostic activity in some areas, mounting pressure on services and a widening gap between what systems record and what they can confidently explain.”
The government added that the next phase of the review must move from broad description to more discriminating analysis. The task “is no longer simply to establish whether change has occurred, but rather to determine more clearly the nature of that change, where it has occurred, for whom, and with what implications for policy and service design.”
