Issue - items at meetings - Scrutiny Panel Report- Services for Children with Autism

121           Scrutiny Panel Report – Services for Children with Autism

121.1                This item was introduced by Cllr Rob Jarrett, Chair of the Scrutiny Panel. Cllr Jarrett told members that the panel had been established following concerns about services for children with autism expressed by parents and carers.

121.2                The panel, which comprised Cllrs Jarrett, Wealls and Pissaridou, and Rosie Moore, a co-optee from Brighton University, made a series of recommendations focusing on areas including: the need for better home support, pathways for people with autism but neither learning disabilities nor mental health problems, having a single point of contact for service-users, system-working, standards of school support, support for school governors, support in courts, and leisure provision.

121.3                Cllr Wealls noted that it was important that services understood that parent and carers are a key part of the solution to supporting children with autism, not part of the problem. In some instances this would require a change in professional attitudes.

121.4                Members agreed that the report should be disseminated as widely as possible – specifically to local NHS providers and commissioners – and the HWOSC Chair agreed to write to NHS partners asking them to read the report and acknowledge its recommendations.

121.5                RESOLVED – that the committee endorses the scrutiny panel report on Services for Children with Autism and agrees to refer it to the council’s decision-making committee(s).