Autism Bill

I have huge regard for the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow), and I promise him that I will not speak for very long. I congratulate the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) on choosing the Bill, running with it, and putting a real Government focus on all the issues that it raises. I also hugely congratulate the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Angela Browning). I suspect that, before I came to the House, she was a lone voice on autism. We have made significant progress over the past few years, however, and she has particularly flagged up the issue of people on the autistic spectrum who happen to be adults. That is what I also wish to focus on. There are two reasons why. First, I am a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department for Children, Schools and Families, so I cannot stray too far—I am merely moonlighting from the Minister today. Secondly, I recognise that there is a long way to go in respect of adults with autism, as I stated when I had the honour to second the Loyal Address. It is worth putting on the record that there has been progress and that the agenda has moved forward, especially since the setting up of the all-party group in 2000 by my hon. Friend the Member for South Thanet (Dr. Ladyman), who has spoken in this debate and to whom I pay tribute. From the outset, the group has received invaluable support from the National Autistic Society. Rightly, every Member who has spoken has paid tribute to it, and I do, too; its skills, knowledge, encouragement and utter professionalism are second to none. One of the first steps the group took was to survey Members. I recall the feedback from that, and it was quite shocking. A significant number of Members in the year 2000 had not even heard of the word "autism", and quite a few of those who had heard of it had no idea what it was. I recall that a Member—who is still a Member, and actively campaigns on a range of disabilities—asked me at one of the first meetings: "Can it be cured?" We were on—and we remain on—a learning curve. Although autistic spectrum disorder has been known about for some time, it has only come under the spotlight, and therefore been a little more understood, relatively recently. Another early move by the group was the launch of its 10-year manifesto in 2003. We were operating then from a pretty low base, but the 2008 "Half way there?" mid-term review makes it clear that there has been progress, although much more in terms of services for children with autism than in terms of adults. There have been one or two green shoots in that regard, however. For me, the most welcome announcement came last year when the Department of Health announced an adult autism strategy and the creation of a senior autism advisory post within the Department to keep the focus constant. I pay tribute to the Under-Secretary of State for International Development, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis), who was a Minister in the Department of Health at that time and who fought very hard to get that full-time expertise. We have heard this morning some shocking statistics on adults with autism, such as that 63 per cent. say their needs are not met and only 15 per cent. are in full-time work, out of an estimated population of 300,000. We all know from having met people on the spectrum in our surgeries and communities—and, indeed, in our families—of the entire further dimension of the thousands of adults out there in the country who are in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50, 60s and way beyond who have never been diagnosed. I welcome the strategy—and particularly the announcements alongside it from my hon. Friend the Minister, and the proposed process to achieve those outcomes that will make a difference—and so does the NAS. The strategy sits alongside other announcements that feed into the process. I know this has been mentioned several times, and that the Minister will cover it when he winds up the debate, but I want to say that the prevalence study must go ahead as we have to get a grip of the quantity issue. Publishing the good practice commissioning guidance in April is also a very good step. However, a note should go with it to every authority and NHS body saying that a strategy with teeth—however it arrives—is coming down the track, and that this guidance should not just be stuck on a shelf; people should actively get on with it. The National Audit Office study on the extent of existing services and how they meet the needs of adults regarding health, social care, employment and carers is timely in the context of this process. The scope of the strategy itself has to be broad enough to deliver the service––which is currently not being delivered in a comprehensive way––that we want to see. I want my hon. Friend the Minister to assure me on this issue and to be guided by those whom he asked to define the boundaries. The question of scope is extremely important; it can be narrowed but it cannot be widened, so let us have everything of concern in that remit as we go forward. Nobody has said very much today about the process that the Government intend. When I spoke to the Minister privately on seeing this debate coming up, I was particularly interested in the question of who was going to be guiding the process. The external reference group is incredibly impressive. It consists of the chief executive of the NAS, Mark Lever; parents; people with autism; local authorities; mental health services; the voluntary sector and academics. The group needs to be as wide as that because we have to have that expertise in this process. Autism is a hidden disability and the issue is as much about culture as it is about practice and making practice work. Reference has been made to Jobcentre Plus. The steering group is intergovernmental and will include the Departments of Health, for Children, Schools and Families, and for Work and Pensions—the latter will cover Jobcentre Plus—and, again, Mark Lever. The range of consultees needs to be extremely wide, and there must be a place for Members of this House in the group. It is crucial that they are part of the consultation. We have identified some of the issues on which improvement is really needed. Data collection is crucial. There is the question of people falling into the gap—of 52 per cent. of people with particularly high-functioning autism being told by mental health and learning disability teams that they do not fit the bill. That is shocking.