Autism Bill

Like many others, I begin by congratulating the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) on choosing this important subject for her private Member's Bill. I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Burton (Mrs. Dean), the present chairman of the all-party group on autism, and its previous chairmen, my hon. Friends the Members for South Thanet (Dr. Ladyman) and for Erewash (Liz Blackman), both of whom have contributed to the debate. The all-party group, of which I, too, am a member, has done an amazing amount of work in recent years, especially in producing the autism manifesto and now in continuing to press the Government to make the improvements that the group has identified, with the support of the National Autistic Society. The NAS has played a key role in raising awareness of autism and of the need to proceed with that agenda. I also congratulate the Minister and his colleagues on the many initiatives introduced in recent years and especially his new announcements in response to the Bill. As Mark Lever, chief executive of the NAS, says in his letter, the measures set out by Ministers cover all aspects of the Autism Bill. So why are we still here debating the Bill? We are debating it—I say to the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr. Letwin) that I intend to discuss the Bill—because we are determined to get it right this time. That is why we making our comments in this debate and why we are seeking reassurances from the Minister. We know from our constituency experience the difficulties encountered by many families who have children with autism, especially if those children are adults, in accessing appropriate services. I know it also as a result of the work that I did with my right hon. Friend the Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr. Clarke) on the parliamentary hearings on the review of services for children with disabilities. Children with autism and their parents came to us and explained the problems they had encountered at a series of levels, from getting the initial diagnosis through getting the health care and support they needed and then getting appropriate education provision. Above all, they described the real problems with the transition from children's services to adult services. We need to get this right, because, as other speakers have said, although there are examples of good practice, gaps in provision remain and we have to fill them.