Autism Bill

I thank my hon. Friend for her comments and I shall continue to draw attention to the importance of the Bill, even if some people are no longer interested in it. I welcome the Department of Health announcement in May last year of the £200,000 for research into the process of transition for autistic young people. That research focused on young people's experiences, including their mental health needs, social care and housing needs, further education needs, opportunities for leisure and access to transport, and the ease of their access to services. I ask the Minister also to consider the impact of different funding arrangements on the choices that local authorities sometimes make about the provision of services for people with autism. I ask because I know of some problems for young people who are in specialist residential provision. They usually stay in such provision until they are 19. However, given the split between children's and adults' services, they are sometimes asked to leave the specialist provision, in which they have often done well, when they reach 18. Their situation is then taken over by adult services, which do not include similar specialist provision for them. We need to look at who pays for the continuation of service during that transition stage. We must make sure that if the young person still needs education once the budget of the children's department has been used to deliver education until 18, the adult services budget is allowed to deliver that education so that there is continuity during the run-in to adult services. There is also an issue of placement in adult services. If an adult with autism is placed in their own tenancy, supported by care workers, they will have access to housing benefit and a series of welfare benefits that reduce the cost to the local authority. If they are placed in a specialist residential provision, they do not have similar access to the range of benefits. I hope that the needs of the individual will come first, not money. Will the Minister consider that point? Transition arrangements can be very difficult. Sadly, all too often adults with autism are expected to fit into existing provision, but they cannot do that. They may have the external characteristics of many people with learning disabilities or mental health problems, but autism is different, and so the response has to be different. That is why we need to ensure that there is more specific provision for people with autism. I recognise that some individuals, whether children or adults, can fit into a more mainstream provision; indeed, many can go to work. However, those at the more severe end of the spectrum need their particular needs to be properly addressed. That is why local strategic planning is essential. There are incentives in the Government's document, "Aiming High for Disabled Children"; we have to aim high for children with autism. I would welcome comments from the Minister on the commissioning guidance that he is due to publish in April. We need to ensure that we achieve the outcomes of the Bill through new regulations, which will state that local authorities and their partners have to have regard to the population of disabled children, including children with autism, when drawing up their children and young people's plan. What will that mean in practice? For adults as well as children, the commissioning guidance will be vital in ensuring that the outcomes that we all want are put into practice. Let me say a few words about good practice. The hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) referred to a school in his constituency, Hillside school, which serves children from Lancashire and elsewhere. I visited that school, many years ago now, and I know what good work it does. Lancashire county council has a whole series of initiatives, including an under-fives autism programme, the Stone Hey unit attached to Broadfield special school, support for parents through an early bird programme, and a Portage scheme, which can help families with children with autism. I also see good practice in Blackpool, which has a long-standing complex disabilities team who now liaise much more closely with the child and adolescent mental health services. The team has four members, who are trained in an autism diagnostic schedule. They train teachers and help parents. They work closely in the community in a multi-disciplinary way, including joint working with Connexions and the adult health services in Blackpool to provide a youth service for children with ASDs. They have a youth club for young people with Asperger's syndrome. Things are happening; the trouble is that they are not happening everywhere. I support the Bill, because we are all on the same side in wanting to improve services. I look forward to the Minister's comments and the reassurances that he can give us on the way forward. We are all, I hope, practical politicians, and we want to put in practice the things that we have been debating. I look forward to the advice that he can give us on how best to proceed.