Important victory for Autism Bill

Date of article: 02-Mar-09

AUTISM CARE PROVIDER HERALDS AUTISM BILL CAMPAIGN & COMMITMENTS MADE BY GOVERNMENT

Brookdale Care, the specialist provider of care services for people living with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), today applauds the Second Reading in the House of Commons of Cheryl Gillan MP’s Autism Bill. The Bill will now go to Committee Stage to be scrutinised by MPs in the next leg of its journey to become law.

Today’s vote in favour of the Bill by MPs – by 131 votes to 25 – follows a sustained campaign by the National Autistic Society, autism charities and care providers (including Brookdale Care) for MPs to support the Bill.

As part of its support for the Bill, Brookdale Care wrote to the constituency MPs for the locations in which it operates and members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism, as well as MPs who had signed Early Day Motions related to autism and MPs who had written about autism and associated Spectrum Disorders in recent months, urging them to support the Bill at its second reading.

The Autism Bill proposes to place a legal responsibility on local councils to collect information on the number of children and adults with the condition. The Bill also includes measures to ensure effective support from child to adult services, appropriate training for staff and the promotion of independent living for people with autism.

Lesa Walton, Care & Development Director of Brookdale Care, said today:

“Today’s vote by MPs is a real positive show of support for the half million plus people in the UK who are affected by autism.

“Alongside the vote in the Commons the Minister Phil Hope MP made some very important commitments on new statutory guidance for authorities on children with autism, robust data collection systems, commissioning guidance for Primary Care Trusts and the new consultation on a strategy for adults with autism.

“Brookdale Care actively promotes independent living for people with ASD, has championed the importance of overcoming transition challenges when people with ASD move from child to adult services, and invests heavily in staff training. As such, the company is delighted by today’s vote and applauds Cheryl Gillan once again for her decision to sponsor the Bill. We also think the NAS have done a wonderful job”.

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