Policy update

The Autism Alliance is continuing to act across a range of national policy areas, seeking to influence the Government’s planning and decisions.

We have continued to call for implementation of the National Strategy for Autistic Children, Young People and Adults, and publication of revised Autism Act statutory guidance which we had helped the Department of Health and Social Care to develop before the General Election last year.

Since the Government took office last July the Autism Alliance has prompted Ministers and officials many times on both the statutory guidance and action to implement the Strategy. This included a meeting in December with Stephen Kinnock, Minister for Care, who listened well but offered no sense of action or energy.

In its responses to letters from our sector, the Government has repeatedly pointed to reform of the Mental Health Act as the key action it has taken for autistic people and their families. While this is welcome, the Government has since confirmed that the clauses in the Act relating to autism and learning disability won’t be activated until there is ‘sufficient’ community support in place to avoid unintended negative outcomes. There is no sign of a credible plan to achieve this, and in the meantime the number of autistic people without a learning disability confined in mental health hospitals continues to rise year-on-year.

Since our last update, we have seen signs that the Government is not planning any further implementation of the National Strategy until the House of Lords Inquiry on the Autism Act 2009 reports in November 2025. This would represent a total of 16 months since the General Election without any action to move forward the Strategy, despite the acknowledgement in the Labour Party Manifesto that the treatment of autistic people and people with a learning disability is ‘a disgrace’.

The current Strategy was due to finish at the end of 2025. Having a Strategy is the main requirement of the Autism Act, and it is to be hoped that the Government’s plan is to develop a new Strategy for 2026 onwards, taking on board the recommendations of the Lords Inquiry, and to prioritise the new Strategy for implementation. We will continue to press the Government on this, and we are prioritising work to influence and inform the direction and recommendations of the Lords Inquiry, as this now seems the strongest opportunity to influence the Government’s plans and secure change for autistic people and their families.

In recent weeks we have also seen politicians starting to talk about ‘overdiagnosis’ in mental health and potentially also in neurodivergence – prompted in part by a new book from a clinician which focuses on ideas around ‘over-medicalisation’. While there is clearly an important conversation to have about autism assessment because the current system is unsustainable, there is a risk that the narrative of ‘overdiagnosis’ is used unhelpfully and harms the public perception of autism. We will be considering how to respond to this emerging narrative and working with the Communications and Campaigns Group to develop a summary of the facts we can use in our public affairs activity.

In May the Alliance will be developing responses to the Lords Special Inquiry on the Autism Act, which has now issued its call for evidence, and also to the Government’s consultation on plans for welfare reform which also risk driving poorer outcomes for autistic people and their families.

The Alliance has also attended the next meeting of the DfE Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, which focused on identifying needs at the start of education, and commenting on emerging SEND policy around behaviour, attendance and the Curriculum and Assessment Review. While the content of these meetings is confidential, members should be assured that the Alliance is advocating very strongly for policy which recognises strengths and meets needs as the basis for learning, and a culture in schools which is positive, supporting and affirming. The input and insight provided by Alliance members at the open calls we have run has been invaluable in informing our contribution to the Task and Finish Group.