Autism Bill

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Freud, on his fascinating maiden speech and I welcome him to the House. His remarks about people with autistic spectrum disorder in the workplace were extremely useful and we look forward to hearing more about that. He made several interesting references to his family. I was wondering what Sigmund Freud said about autism, but I do not think that the word existed in his day. I will have to look through my psychiatric text books, if I still have them, to find out what was the nearest word. I also loved the noble Lord’s comment about not knowing where he is. I remind him that we are given a life sentence to this place, so before we die many of us will probably get to the stage of not knowing where we are. We must all look forward to it. I thank the noble Lord for his contribution. Over a year ago, on 19 March 2008 to be precise, the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis of Drumglass, led a debate on this subject. I spoke in the debate and, in a very full and informative reply, the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, gave us reassurances that an enormous amount of work was going on and that various initiatives were already in place. She mentioned the Early Support programme, extra funds for the National Autistic Society and for the further involvement of TreeHouse—both of these are wonderful charities—programmes to improve training for teachers, and funding for the Autism Education Trust to improve teaching and social work. All this is making a difference. While nothing is ever enough, of course, tremendous progress is being made for children with autism. However, as the noble Lord, Lord Astor of Hever, said in that debate, enough attention is still not being paid to the transition years and adults with autistic spectrum disorder. This was the subject of a recent report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, for introducing the Bill so ably into this House after its passage through the House of Commons. It concentrates on the transition phase from school years to adulthood and the management of adults with autistic spectrum disorder. As someone who years ago as a local councillor and doctor and then as an MP battled to help individuals with autism and their families, I want to emphasise yet again the need for co-operation between health services, social services and education. I see that the noble Baroness is nodding in agreement. Co-operation is still a headache, but it was a nightmare in my day. I understand that the joint needs assessment that each primary care trust and local authority are supposed to have undertaken to assess the needs of people with autistic spectrum disorder in their area has not really produced much in the way of results. Only 21 per cent of PCTs have actually done these assessments and I hope that the Minister can explain to us why that is and how they are to be implemented. I apologise because I must rattle through a series of questions, to which I know that the Minister will write with her responses if she cannot answer now. I want to put on the record during this debate how much I appreciate the efficiency, pleasantness and extreme speed with which the noble Baroness always responds to queries and other points raised in debates. I turn now to my questions. Do we know whether each area has a lead person responsible for the joint strategic needs assessments to be made by PCTs and local authorities? Who is that lead person? We know that the planning of support and care for adults with autistic spectrum disorder needs to start well before the age of 18 when they leave formal schooling. Are we sure that each individual has a key worker in the run-up to reaching 18, someone with the right training to be able to identify individual needs and plan for the future? I am sure that this will be developed in the strategy, but how many offices of the Department for Work and Pensions up and down the country have in them professionals trained to recognise autistic spectrum disorder and able to advise people accordingly? A huge problem faced by adults with autistic spectrum disorder was mentioned by my noble friend Lord Addington in last year’s debate. Some people do not have the condition recognised when they are children. As they move into adulthood, sadly, some end up in the criminal justice system and, even worse, can often go to prison. What are we doing to identify these people before they get into trouble? What happened to the national prevalence study that was announced two years ago? So far as I know, it has not yet seen the light of day. It would be useful to have the answer to that. I think that two weeks must pass between the Second Reading and the Third Reading of a Bill, which means that there is little time for this Bill before the Summer Recess. I urge the Minister to try to persuade the authorities to ensure that it gets through before the Recess, or three months will be lost. Only a nod is required from the Front Bench. It does not take long and there must be a way in which we can do this so that we are able to take advantage of the Summer Recess to get going on the work. Perhaps I am asking for a miracle, but I am sure that the Minister will work on it. We need the publication of both the strategy and the guidance as soon as possible. There is increasing interest in the diagnosis and treatment of individuals with autistic spectrum disorder. It presents a huge problem when it occurs and, without proper provision and support, it can create enormous stress in a family, sometimes leading to relationship break-up, which I have seen on several occasions. On a very pragmatic level, the National Audit Office has found that simple interventions that occur early, whether for children or adults, can save huge amounts of money later on, so they are extremely cost-effective. People with autistic spectrum disorder deserve society’s support, which must be properly planned through a strategy and with no more delays.