Autism Bill

My hon. Friend has raised an excellent point. That goes to show that we need to have a big debate this summer as we roll out the national strategy. I dare say that members of the external reference group, who will be watching this debate and reading Hansard afterwards, will take into account both the plea that he has made about a possible further pillar of reform and his suggestion of what that pillar might be. The national debate will be a vital vehicle for taking forward exactly these kinds of contributions so that we have a strategy for autism that meets the needs of adults who have those experiences. The national external adviser we have appointed to help us, Elaine Hill, who is a very experienced person, is particularly concerned about what happens to those people with autism who end up in our criminal justice system as offenders. Their needs are not understood and they are in completely the wrong place to deal with the issues that they have to deal with in their lives. My hon. Friend is knocking on an open door, and I will ensure that his comments are drawn to the attention of the appropriate people. The strategy and the pillars of reform for adults with autism are underpinned, as I said earlier, by statutory guidance under section 7 of the 1970 Act subject to consultation and assessment of benefits as we take through the development of that national strategy. We might have disagreements in this Chamber about which statutory footing to use, but I am convinced that this is the right way forward and I want to say more about that in a second. Strong leadership is needed to back all that up. It is vital that nationally, regionally and locally we drive forward the implementation of change. However, as has been asked, even with statutory guidance, is change actually delivered? It is vital that at every level we have people driving forward the action that we need to ensure that the good practice that we have heard about in the Chamber today is replicated around the country. I remind the House of our recent announcements about the delivery of plans and resources that will benefit children with autism through our new child health strategy, the review of our children and adolescent mental health services, our work on "Aiming High for Disabled Children" and better training and support for professionals in mainstream education. The hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham said that she wanted to secure lasting change, and I want to echo those words. I listened with great interest to her speech and those of other Members, not least that of the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr. Letwin), but I am still left with the impression that the proposals are not the best means of securing the outcome that I have been describing—[Interruption.] If hon. Members will allow me, I shall now say why I believe that. We all know that legislation can be a very blunt and crude instrument for driving through change, especially when the end we seek is better awareness and better use of the expertise and resources that are already in the system. We need to preserve for councils the freedom and flexibility that they need to meet the complex web of local needs—not to avoid them, but to meet those needs in ways that are relevant to them in their area. We need an approach that ensures appropriate and relevant action on autism in every area and that complements the ambitious work that is already under way across mental health and social care. I want to say more about that in a moment. We need to give local authorities the scope and skills that they need to zero in on the specific needs of people with autism. I shall make it clear later that we are not working from a standing start. Other Members have been kind enough to highlight examples of where the Government have made a difference.