Chamber and committees

Petitioner submission of 27 September 2021

PE1837/Z - Provide clear direction and investment for autism support

This submission is in response to the publication of the Review of the ten-year Autism Strategy for Scotland 2021.

The review was undertaken by Blake Stevenson. The review highlights the strategy did not deliver and more still needs to be done. The review concludes: “After ten years, valuable resources have been created and new and additional services delivered. However, real change for many autistic people, both in how they engage with services and in how they are supported to live productive lives, is not as evident. To have a greater impact, the services and support need to have greater reach, become embedded and be sustained.”

The Director of National Autistic Society Scotland said, “What is clear from this report is that autistic people and their families are still, after ten years, not getting the vital support that they need to live meaningful and fulfilled lives. Today’s review of the Scottish Strategy for Autism echoes findings from last year’s ‘Accountability Gap’ report produced by the Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Autism which found that while progress had been made, 72% of individuals and their families did not get enough support to meet their needs”.

The CPG on Autism, co-convened by Annie Wells MSP and Alexander Burnett MSP, had a large membership comprised of MSPs, autistic people, families, organisations and professionals from across Scotland. The report found that:

• 72% of respondents said they did not have enough support to meet their needs.

• 78% of respondents said that it was not easy accessing support locally.

• 50% felt that autism awareness among the general public had not improved.

• 69% said that with more support they would feel less isolated.

• 36% said they received no support within 12 months of receiving a diagnosis.

Here are some extracts from the official review of the autism strategy:

“Across all types of respondents, participants and interviewees, there were repeated comments about the limited impact of the strategy. These comments related to its focus being too broad, a lack of authority to bring about change at a local level, and that the host of activities and projects had not led to real change for autistic people and their families/carers …

Action over the ten years of the strategy has established insight into what is needed to improve and deliver appropriate services. The keystone for translating this into practice is action at a local level. For many reasons this has not occurred at the pace, breadth and spread that has been needed, resulting in inconsistency from one area to another …

Inconsistent adoption and application of the strategy’s priorities across Scotland have made it difficult to capture an accurate picture of the service delivery changes that have happened in practice, compared to what is documented …

Despite the pockets of progress and “islets of good practice”, gaps were consistently identified in particular services or support, most notably with: diagnosis and post-diagnostic support; transition points; support for autistic adults; and employment.

Throughout the discussions, the concern about bringing together autism and learning disability was repeatedly raised. A minority of autistic people have a learning disability and whilst there is some overlap in the disadvantages both populations face, the types of support and services to address their needs differ … the majority of autistic people do not have a learning disability and were frustrated with this focus. There were concerns expressed about the bringing together of the autism and learning disability agenda and a consistent view of the importance of maintaining a specific strategy/plan for autism services and not combining the two.

There was strong resistance to learning disability and autism strategies being merged …

There were also concerns expressed about the bringing together of the autism and learning disability agenda and a consistent view of the importance of maintaining a specific strategy/plan for autism services …

provide clarity on where autism sits within government policy … place stronger requirements on local authorities to deliver …

Integration authorities play a crucial role in the degree of strategic impact because most services are designed and delivered at a local level. Until appropriate provision is commonplace, there will be a lack of accessible and relevant local autism services. After ten years, there is an increased understanding and knowledge about what needs to change and what works …

for the contributors to this evaluation, the pockets of change highlighted in this chapter have not matched this ten-year endeavour”.

The official review of the Scottish Autism evidence there needs to be much more done for autistic people. The petition highlights the main barrier is accessing local support due to the confusion of autism being understood as mental disorder within the Mental Health Act. Hence the questions: who provides support at local level for autistic people who do not have a learning disability?