Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance on the work and outcomes of the Scrutiny Autism Task and Finish Group and sought consideration of their recommendations. An Appendix to the report provided the Report back of the Autism Task and Finish Group to the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) at their meeting on 23rd March 2022.

At the start of the Municipal Year 2021/22, the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) agreed to set up a task and finish group to look at support for autistic children and young people. This work was prompted by concerns raised regarding the wait times for assessments and diagnosis. The Task and Finish group wanted to understand the reason for the waits and what support was available during the waiting time without a diagnosis, particularly for Children and Young People.

At their meeting on 11 March 2020 the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) considered an item on the Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) Pathway and Support to Children and Young People in Coventry (their minute 33/20 referred). The Chair identified that more in-depth consideration needed to be made of some of the issues and invited Members to join a Task and Finish Group. Members of the Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Board (2) were invited to join the Group due to the cross over in the remit of the two Boards regarding autism.

The report sought Cabinet’s consideration of the recommendations identified by the Task and Finish Group to address issues around the assessment process and support for children and young people who were referred for an autism assessment, and their families, as well as transition into adult service, inclusion and other aspects of autism and neurodiversity.

The Cabinet thanked the officers and Members who had been involved in the work of the Task and Finish Group, in particular they recognised the work undertaken by the Chairs of the Scrutiny Boards, and asked that Cabinet’s thanks to all concerned be placed on record. 

RESOLVED that the Cabinet agrees the following recommendations of the Autism Task and Finish Group:

1)  That the Council work with partners to identify sustainable, long-term funding as there is currently only funding available for the first year of the All-Age Autism Strategy delivery plan.

2)  Ensure tackling health inequalities for autistic people is prioritised for delivery as part of the All-Age Autism Strategy implementation plan to improve physical health, mental health and emotional wellbeing.

3)  Work with partners to accelerate and build on existing workstreams, to reduce the unacceptably long waiting times for diagnostic assessment.

4)  The Council and health partners work with schools, colleges and universities to ensure that all educational professionals (teachers, senior leaders, early career teachers, support staff) have a good understanding of the needs which may present for autistic and neurodiverse pupils and provide appropriate Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to ensure high quality provision at both whole class and individual intervention level.

5)  The Council strengthen data  ...  view the full minutes text for item 100