Regional Coordinator

North East Autism Consortium

PAM LAWRENCEMOB: 07760 420251

THE STATUTORY GUIDANCE FOR AUTISM AND HOW TO IMPROVE IT

2009: The Autism Act1. Our government had to produce a national strategy for adults

with autism. This was done.

2010: Fulfi lling and Rewarding Lives

2014: Think Autism is the recent review of the original strategy and it is intended to close the gap between that strategy and work on the ground locally. It does talk about some signifi cant developments….

2010: The statutory guidance2. Our government had to produce statutory guidance for local

councils and NHS bodies about putting the national strategy into action. This is about to be reviewed.......

HISTORY

There are three new proposals:

1. Autism aware communities – local projects and awards2. Autism Innovation Fund – particularly for lower level

preventative support3. Better data collection and more joined up advice and

information services (better recording, commitment to make information more accessible and local authority performance going on-line)

Also, local authorities need to report on data about people with autism for the fi rst time, Royal College of GPs has autism as Training and Awareness priority over the next 3 years. Autism training for all mainstream healthcare professionals and JobCentre DEAs.

THINK AUTISM 2014

The statutory guidance runs alongside the Autism Act. It tells local councils and the NHS what they should do for autistic people who live in their area.

It covers some of the same themes which are in Fulfi lling and Rewarding Lives.

It needs to be reviewed because the Health and Social Care landscape has changed.

It needs to reflect the recent Think Autism document.

THE STATUTORY GUIDANCE

The current statutory guidance says that local authorities and the NHS have the following legal duties:

1. They should provide autism awareness training for all their staff

2. They must provide more specialist training for key staff3. They cannot refuse a community care assessment for

adults with autism based solely on IQ4. They must appoint an autism lead in their area5. They have to develop a clear pathway to diagnosis and

assessment for adults with autism6. They need to commission services based on adequate

population data

WHAT THE STATUTORY GUIDANCE SAYS

In groups of 3-4 people go through the list of the statutory duties and come up with a set of key questions which you can use in the table discussions later on today.

Useful tip #1: have a look at the statutory duties which you know very little about and ask a “What”, “Who”, “When”, “Where” or “How” question.

Useful tip #2: Hang on to your own personal questions and suggestions so that you can raise them later on today.

YOUR FIRST TASK (20 MINS)

Do you think there are any missing “must dos” for either local councils or the NHS?

Why do you think these missing things are vital?

YOUR SECOND TASK (10 MINS)

Can you think of practical ways to gather up a wider selection of views which can then be fed into the Dept of Health during the 5-6 week consultation process?

Useful tip: The NEAC or National Autistic Society could pull together a regional response which might carry more weight with the Dept of Health.

YOUR THIRD TASK (10 MINS)

Some people are saying that some of the recommendations in Fulfi lling and Rewarding Lives/Think Autism should become “must dos” rather than just simply good practice suggestions.

There may also be some things which the statutory guidance and the autism strategy have forgotten about altogether.

Useful tip: keep refining your questions and suggestions throughout the day and over the next few weeks.

THE NATIONAL AUTISM STRATEGY

“As many local people as possible need to understand the current situation around autism and then take action in order to improve services and support systems for autistic people and their parents/partners and carers.”