West Dunbartonshire MP Martin Docherty has pledged to improve understanding of autism through raising issues affecting autistic people and their families in Parliament.

The commitment came as the SNP MP joined a cross-party group in marking the Houses of Parliament receiving the Autism Friendly Award from the National Autistic Society.

The award itself was given in recognition of the hard work and commitment of the Parliament's diversity and inclusion team, as well colleagues around the Parliament, in supporting autistic people and their loved ones during visits to Parliament.

Mr Docherty said: “Parliament has led the way with this achievement, but we all need to make sure we are working to better support autistic people and their families in our local communities.

“That’s why I am very pleased to pledge my support to take action to benefit my autistic constituents. If we all work together at community level to increase autism understanding, we have the potential to transform the lives of the 700,000 autistic people and their families across the UK.”

Alongside winning the award, members across the houses have also pledged to make small but meaningful changes, encouraging more autistic people to visit Parliament, to learn about democracy, and feel valued within their local communities.

Jane Harris, director of external affairs at the National Autistic Society, said: “It is vitally important that autistic people and their families have access to the same public spaces and heritage sites that other people take for granted. So we are delighted that the Houses of Parliament has achieved the National Autistic Society’s Autism Friendly Award – and it plays a small but significant part in ensuring autistic people are able to participate in the democratic process.

“Awareness of autism is at an all-time high. But our recent survey revealed that only 16% of autistic people and their families think the public understand autism in a meaningful way.

“This is why we were so pleased to see so many MPs take the time to attend the award presentation and pledge to make a few simple changes that can help to reduce the sense of isolation which many of their autistic constituents and their families feel. We’d also like to encourage members of the public to get involved and make their own pledges to help transform their own communities.”