Autism Act implementation by local authorities, NHS bodies and NHS England - Lords committee to quiz witnesses

On Monday, the House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee will be holding two evidence sessions around the implementation of the Autism Act 2009. The first session will focus on implementation within local authorities and NHS bodies, with the second session focusing on NHS England.  

Giving evidence at 14:45 will be: 

• Fazeela Hafejee – Assistant Director of Adults with Disabilities, Bradford Council; and Representative, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services  

• Nigel Minns – Chair of Health, Care & Additional Needs Policy Committee, Association of Directors of Children's Services; and Executive Director for Children and Young People, Warwickshire Country Council  

• Professor Asif Zia – Chief Medical Officer, Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust; and Chair, Mental Health Medical Director Forum, NHS Confederation 

Questions the committee is likely to ask include: 

• What are the roles of the Autism Act 2009, the statutory guidance and the Government's autism strategy in determining how local authorities and NHS bodies plan and deliver support for autistic people? 

• In what ways (if any) are local authorities and NHS bodies held accountable for implementation of the Autism Act 2009, autism strategy and statutory guidance? 

• What should the Government, local authorities and NHS bodies do to make public services and businesses accessible to autistic people? 

• What should the Government, NHS bodies and local authorities do to ensure autistic people can access early support so as not to miss opportunities to prevent crisis? 

• What should the Government, local authorities and NHS bodies do to prevent ‘cliff edges' in access to support during transition to adulthood? 

• In an updated autism strategy and any new statutory guidance, what should the Government prioritise to enable local authorities and NHS bodies to provide autistic people with the support they need? 

Giving evidence at 15:50 will be: 

• Tom Cahill – National Director, Learning Disability and Autism Programme, NHS England  

• Claire Murdoch – National Mental Health Director, NHS England; and CEO, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust  

• Dr Adrian James – Medical Director for Mental Health and Neurodiversity, NHS England  

• Dr Ken Courtenay – Consultant Psychiatrist in Learning Disability, NHS England  

Questions the committee is likely to ask include: 

• Who is responsible and accountable for ensuring that national, regional and local NHS bodies meet autistic people's needs? 

• To what extent does the NHS have the evidence it needs to plan services for autistic people? How does NHS England identify and address the key gaps in this evidence? 

• Demand for autism assessment far outstrips capacity. What is NHS England doing to enable mainstream and specialist services to address this gap, including managing any trade-offs between increasing capacity for autism assessment and providing autistic people with support before and after diagnosis? 

• What is NHS England doing to change mainstream NHS services from often being inaccessible to autistic people and failing to make adjustments for their needs? 

• What is NHS England doing to change mental health services often failing to recognise and respond to autistic people's needs, meaning opportunities to avert crises are missed? 

• What action will be needed to enable NHS bodies to improve outcomes for autistic people and to hold them to account for progress after NHS England functions are brought into DHSC? 

The sessions will take place on Monday 23 June and can be followed live on parliamentlive.tv