We have answered some of the questions that people might have about the Autism Act, adult autism strategy and adult autism statutory guidance in England. We hope that it is helpful. If you have any other questions you can email campaign@nas.org.uk or call 020 7923 5799.
We have also produced a separate guide for people with autism and parent/carers specifically about the statutory guidance published on 17 December 2010. Read the guide here.
What is the Autism Act?
The Autism Act 2009 was the first ever disability-specific law in England. The Act did two key things.
The first was to put a duty on the Government to produce a strategy for adults with autism, which was published on 2 March 2010.
The second was a duty on the Government to produce statutory guidance for local councils and local health bodies on implementing the adult autism strategy by the end of 2010. This guidance was published on 17 December 2010.
The Act, strategy and the statutory guidance relates only to adults with autism living in England.
What is the adult autism strategy?
The adult autism strategy is the Government's plan to make sure that adults with autism get the help that they need. This might be things like help to get a job or help at home.
What does the adult autism strategy say?
The adult autism strategy explains the different things that the Government will do to make sure adults with autism get the help that they need. The strategy also tells local councils and health services how they can help people with autism.
There are five things in the strategy which the Government has decided are the most important:
- making sure that more people understand about autism
- making it easier for adults to get a diagnosis of autism - a diagnosis is when a doctor tells someone that they have autism
- making it easier for adults with autism to choose how they live and get the help that they need to do this
- helping adults with autism to find jobs
- helping local councils and health services to write plans so that the adults with autism who live in their area get the help that they need.
If you want to find out more detail about what the strategy says, visit: www.autism.org.uk/autismstrategy
Read a summary of the strategy here.
What is the Autism Act statutory guidance?
The statutory guidance has been published to ensure the implementation of the adult autism strategy. This guidance tells local authorities, NHS bodies and NHS Foundation Trusts what actions should be taken to meet the needs of people with autism living in their area.
It clearly states that local authorities and the NHS:
- should provide autism awareness training for all staff
- must provide specialist autism training for key staff, such as GPs and community care assessors
- cannot refuse a community care assessment for adults with autism based solely on IQ
- must appoint an autism lead in their area
- have to develop a clear pathway to diagnosis and assessment for adults with autism
- need to commission services based on adequate population data.
As the guidance is statutory, local councils and local health bodies have a legal duty to implement it.
Where the guidance says that a local area should do something, this means that they will have to do it by law, unless they have a strong reason not to. Lack of money will not necessarily be a strong reason.
What difference will the statutory guidance have?
Things will not change instantly. The passing of the Autism Act was a fantastic first step and the publication of the statutory guidance marks a turning point for people with autism. But now, it is important for local authorities and NHS bodies to implement the strategy and statutory guidance so that change actually happens on the ground.
To help these local authorities and NHS bodies, the Department of Health commissioned the NAS to develop a central online resource. This resource has been developed to support health and social care professionals in the implementation of the strategy and can be found at www.autism.org.uk/autismstrategy
Local campaigning is so important. If you think that your local council or health service is not doing what the strategy or statutory guidance says it should do, you might want to try to do something to change this. You can email campaigns@nas.org.uk or call 020 7923 5799 for advice about what you could do.
Why does the Autism Act, autism strategy and statutory guidance not cover children?
At first, the Autism Bill was about adults and children. But the Government told us that they would help children with autism in other ways.
The NAS is continuing to campaign in other ways for better services for children with autism. For more information on what we are doing on education in particular, visit: http://nas-education-update.blogspot.com/
What nations does it cover?
The strategy only covers England.