PAM LAWRENCE
MOB: 07760 420251
Regional
Coordinator
North East
Autism
Consortium
THE STATUTORY GUIDANCE FOR AUTISM AND
HOW TO IMPROVE IT
HISTORY
 2009: The Autism Act
1. Our government had to produce a national strategy for adults with
autism. This was done.
 2010: Fulfilling 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 significant
developments….
 2010: The statutory guidance
2.
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.......
THINK AUTISM 2014
There are three new proposals:
1. Autism aware communities – local projects and awards
2. Autism Innovation Fund – particularly for lower level
preventative support
3. 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 first 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.
THE STATUTORY GUIDANCE
 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
Fulfilling 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.
WHAT THE STATUTORY GUIDANCE SAYS
 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 staff
3. They cannot refuse a community care assessment for adults with
autism based solely on IQ
4. They must appoint an autism lead in their area
5. They have to develop a clear pathway to diagnosis and assessment
for adults with autism
6. They need to commission services based on adequate population
data
YOUR FIRST TASK
(20 MINS)
 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 statutor y duties which you
know ver y 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 SECOND TASK
( 10 M I N S )
 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 THIRD TASK
( 10 M I N S )
 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 carr y more weight
with the Dept of Health.
THE NATIONAL AUTISM STRATEGY
 Some people are saying that some of the recommendations in
Fulfilling 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.
“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.”