UK Parliament / Open data

Autism Bill

Proceeding contribution from Liz Blackman (Labour) in the House of Commons on Friday, 27 February 2009. It occurred during Debate on bills on Autism Bill.
Absolutely, and that brings me nicely on to training. Training is also a central part of the approach. However much we manage to improve services for adults with autism, training is absolutely key and must be delivered—both initially and ongoing—in professional development. We are talking about GPs, psychologists, psychiatrists, social care workers, mental health services, Jobcentre Plus—I could go on but I am not going to as I am mindful of the time. Part of the issue is the huge cohort of people who remain undiagnosed and who need to get support within the system. The implementation of whatever measures are decided on is crucial. We can have a Bill, translated into an Act, and we can have regulations. We can have clause 7 and statutory guidance but both can be flouted simply because of ignorance, or because of lack of understanding and leadership in the organisations that we want to push this agenda forward in order to improve services for adults with autism. I wait with bated breath to hear what the Minister has to say, but I think that the outcome of the process could be more wide-ranging and robust than could be achieved by going into Committee at this point. However, I shall listen carefully to what the Minister has to say. The strategy needs to be carefully thought through and it needs time to do its work. It also needs to be brought out within a reasonable amount of time and to be given teeth. It needs to be resourced, ambitious and long term.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
488 c525 
Session
2008-09
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Legislation
Autism Bill 2008-09
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