§ Baroness Uddinasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they intend to support the autistic community in the United Kingdom. [HL 1115]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathIt is the responsibility of local statutory bodies to determine the provision of services to autistic people based on their knowledge of local needs and priorities.
The Department of Health has issued guidance to encourage the development, at a local level, of a range of well co-ordinated health and social services for people with learning disabilities, many of whom also have autism, and their carers. Our strategy for services for people with a learning disability will be published as a White Paper in the next few weeks. Our increased investment in health, education and personal social services in England over the next three years will benefit people with autism as well as everyone else who needs them. Services for people with autism in other parts of the United Kingdom are a matter for devolved administrations.
§ Baroness Uddinasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have considered assisting the National Autistic Society in organising a major conference on autism and the issues surrounding the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination. [HL 1117]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathWe recognise the valuable work of the National Autistic Society in raising awareness of the needs of children and adults with autistic spectrum conditions and have funded a number of their activities over the years. As rigorous scrutiny by the Department of Health and a number of independent expert advisory groups has established that the present evidence does not support any association between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination and autism, we would not view a conference on this subject as a priority for public funding.
§ Baroness Uddinasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have to addresses the shortage of specialist teachers and specialist speech therapists needed to deal with autistic children. [HL1118]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathAutism is a significant area of work in speech and language therapy. It is, however, a specialised area, and as a consequence there are only a limited number of therapists with the highly developed skills required to work effectively with this client group.
We need to see further increases in the number of speech and language therapists employed within the National Health Service. The NHS Plan commits the Government to 6,500 more therapists and other health professionals, with 4,450 more therapists and other key professions being trained each year by 2004. We 101WA have made good progress in the past two years. However we are currently conducting a labour market analysis in order to inform future education commissioning decisions and this report will be available in the late spring.
An increase in the total number of speech and language therapists working in the National Health Service will have a positive impact in all areas. It will also increase the number of therapists currently able to develop the more specialist skills required with particular client groups such as people with autistic spectrum disorder.
The Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) is providing significant levels of financial support for the training and professional development of teachers and other staff working with children with special educational needs (SEN), including those children on the autistic spectrum. Under the Standards Fund 2000–01, DfEE is supporting expenditure of £26 million on SEN training and development—an increase from £21 million in 1999–2000. In 2001–02 DfEE envisages that £30 million of the overall SEN Standards Fund allocation of £82 million will be spent on SEN training.
§ Baroness Uddinasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they plan to meet the needs of autistic children from ethnic minority backgrounds, and, in particular, the need for additional language support. [HL1119]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathIt is the responsibility of local statutory authorities to determine the pattern of services in their area in the light of their knowledge of local needs and priorities. Health and local authorities should ensure that the particular health, education and social care needs of each child with autism, including those from ethnic minority backgrounds, are met with genuine choices.
Every child with an autistic spectrum disorder should benefit from the Government's commitment to improving health and reducing inequality in the health service under the NHS Plan. Many children with autism also have a learning disability and will be covered by our national learning disability strategy, which we intend to publish as a White Paper in the next few weeks.
Under the Standards Fund 2001–02, the Department for Education and Employment is supporting expenditure of £82 million on special educational needs. We envisage that local education authorities will spend £10 million of this on enhancing speech and language therapy provision in conjunction with the NHS and the voluntary sector. This would include enhancing facilities available to ethnic minority pupils.
§ Baroness Uddinasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their policy towards autistic children and adults from minority ethnic communities. [HL1128]
102WA
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe Government are committed to ensuring that people from ethnic minority communities have equal access to all public services.
Children and adults with an autistic spectrum disorder will benefit from the Government's commitment to improving health and reducing inequality in the health service under the NHS Plan. Many people with autism also have a learning disability and will be covered by our national learning disability strategy, which will be published as a White Paper in the next few weeks.
§ Baroness Uddinasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they intend to ensure that local education authorities and National Health Service trusts fund basic educational services and specialist speech therapy for all autistic children. [HL1131]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathOur increased investment in health, education and personal social services in England over the next three years will benefit people with autism as well as everyone else who needs them. We have demonstrated our commitment to improving the recruitment and retention of the allied health professions, including speech and language therapists, inMeeting the Challenge: A Strategy for the Allied Health Professions, which I had the pleasure of launching on 25 November 2000.
Funding is not made available for specific categories of special educational need. Rather, funding is allocated and distributed via local education authorities (LEAs), which have a duty to provide appropriately for all children in their area. This includes the duty to identify children's individual special educational needs and to deliver the most appropriate provision to meet those needs.
Under the Standards Fund for 2001–02, the Department for Education and Employment is supporting expenditure of £82 million on special educational needs. We envisage that local education authorities will spend £10 million of this on enhancing speech and language therapy provision in conjunction with the NHS and the voluntary sector. The grant is also available for training staff on special educational needs issues.
At the individual pupil level, we are also working to promote better and more consistent practice towards all pupils with special educational needs. In particular the revised SEN Code of Practice should promote more consistent practice by schools and LEAs. Whilst individual pupils with SEN will vary in their needs, it is important that schools and others adopt a consistent and rigorous approach in identifying and providing for these needs.
§ Baroness Uddinasked Her Majesty's Government:
What action they are proposing to support the expected increase in numbers of autistic children in five years time. [HL1132]
103WA
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathTo help local authorities with their service planning responsibilities, we first need to establish whether an increase in the numbers of autistic children is expected. We are therefore examining a number of potential sources of health and social care data on autism. On a pilot basis, autism will be included in the next Children in Need Survey, to be carried out in the autumn.
We have also asked the Medical Research Council (MRC) to obtain a clear and comprehensive picture of the current knowledge about the incidence, prevalence and causes of autism and how strong is the evidence which underpins that knowledge. The MRC will submit a report to the Department of Health in autumn 2001. This will be circulated more widely to a range of policy-makers, patients, interest groups, the research community and the public.
Our increased investment in health, education and personal social services in England over the next three years will benefit people with autism as well as everyone else who needs them.