Building on our successes with I Exist, in late 2008 Cheryl Gillan MP agreed to take forward a private member’s bill on autism in Parliament. A range of organisations worked in partnership to support the Bill. Find out about our partners here.
Thanks to a huge campaigner effort and cross-party support for the Bill in Parliament, in November 2009 the Bill received Royal Assent and became the Autism Act 2009.
The Act made two key provisions:
- That the Government produced an adult autism strategy by 1st April 2010.
- That the Secretary of State for Health issue statutory guidance for local authorities and local health bodies on supporting the needs of adults with autism by 31st December 2010.
Adult autism strategy
The adult autism strategy, "Fulfilling and rewarding lives: the strategy for adults with autism in England", was published on 3rd March 2010.
The Government’s Autism Advisor established an External Reference Group of people with autism, parents and carers, professionals and autism charities to help inform the strategy development. Mark Lever, NAS chief executive, was selected by the group to chair it.
Statutory guidance
The Government is now consulting on statutory guidance. This new guidance will be statutory, so any local authority or local health body that doesn't follow it will be able to be challenged through the courts. It is therefore very important that the guidance says the right things so that people with autism and their parents/carers can use it to get the support they need locally.
We want to urge as many people as possible to have their say about what they think should be in the statutory guidance. Make your views heard: take action now.