Policy update

The Autism Alliance UK continues to work to influence Government policy and support colleagues in other areas of the UK where relevant policy is devolved. Our focus continues to be on ‘influencing from the inside’ through relationships with officials, NHS colleagues and through interaction with Parliamentary committees and inquiries, but in the coming months we may take forward more public work in collaboration with Alliance members, particularly around the public perception of autism.

Policy in England continues to develop rapidly as we move into the summer. Following the recent launch of the Government’s consultation on welfare reform, we have seen the announcement of plans to close the Health and Care Worker Visa to care workers and the formal launch of Baroness Casey’s Commission on Adult Social Care. The Alliance is continuing to support the main national campaigns in this space, including from the Care and Support Alliance and the Local Government Association, all of which call for the care sector to be valued and properly funded.

Alongside this, we may soon see an announcement on SEND in education. Recent weeks have seen speculation that the Government may be moving away from key aspects of the Children and Families Act 2014, including Education, Health and Care Plans, as part of a focus on making mainstream education more inclusive, with the implication that fewer children and young people are in specialist schools and settings. If what we have heard about the Government’s direction is correct, a huge amount will depend firstly on consultation and co-production, and secondly on managing transition exceptionally well. It will be vital that children and young people are not caught between the rhetoric of meeting need and a drive to manage cost, and that the vital role of specialist organisations is recognised and maintained.

As part of this, the Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, on which the Autism Alliance is represented, will be bringing together its report to Government. Although the detail of this work is confidential, the Group looks set to make some clear recommendations about meeting needs, changing culture and listening to children, young people and families.

In other areas of policy, with the Casey Commission now underway we will be following up on the letter the Autism Alliance sent to the Commission earlier this year on behalf of autism and learning disability organisations, and connecting with other organisations, including the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, who are advocating for a distinct workstream within the Commission for autistic people and people with a learning disability.

We have also seen one clearly positive development, which is the confirmation that NHS England will be re-procuring the Autism Central programme for a further three years. Although it has a small budget in the national context (around £1 m per year), through local community organisations - including some members of the Autism Alliance - the service is doing good work which is greatly appreciated by parents and carers, and ensuring there is at least one continuing national programme that promotes understanding of autism and builds confidence and resilience amongst families.

Finally, the Government’s Spending Review is expected in June, along with the NHS 10-Year Plan, which may include a future direction for autism assessment. Ministers seem clearly focused on addressing the unacceptably waiting lists for assessment but it will be crucial that they engage with evidence-led, carefully tested reform rather than rushing to actions which just restrict access. This is particularly important given recent comments from politicians about ‘overdiagnosis’, which are reductive and wrong - there are many factors that affect rates of diagnosis, and there is clear under-diagnosis amongst some groups. Responding to this risk, the Autism Alliance is working with NHS England to make sure all the facts are considered, and exploring how we can maintain a strong base of support for evidence-based reform amongst charities, researchers and clinicians.

As a UK-wide partnership it is also vital to understand the context in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, where there are similar challenges but the policy process is at different places - and at our next Members’ Meeting on 11th July, we will be taking a look at the latest developments in policy in the ‘four nations’.

We will also continue to prioritise engagement with the House of Lords Special Inquiry on the Autism Act 2009. The deadline for public submissions to the Inquiry is 2nd June, and we have shared with CEOs the Autism Alliance’s draft submission in case this is helpful to see. As we have noted before, the Inquiry is a crucially important opportunity to highlight how policy, public services and society can work for autistic people and their families, and Alliance members are strongly encouraged to submit evidence. The Autism Alliance will be giving additional oral evidence to the Lords Committee in early July, following the appearance of Government Ministers, officials and the NHS, and this will be a helpful opportunity to comment on the position Ministers have set out.