New Autism Strategy (Autism Act 2009 Committee Report)

Baroness Merron Excerpts

Wednesday 10th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, I start by thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Rock, for leading this important debate and, as many noble Lords have said, for chairing a committee that was very thorough and gathered powerful evidence, including from autistic people, families, carers and professionals. I too extend my gratitude to all members of the committee. It is a very strong piece of work, which I believe will take us forward.

We welcome the final report and the recommendations and have set out our initial response. Straight away, I should say that I have heard the various views across the Chamber about the quality of the response and I have also heard very clearly the frustration that there is not an immediate strategy to replace this current one. I say that in all seriousness, not least because I will be sharing those views with the Minister now responsible for this very important area, Preet Gill MP. On that point, I apologise to the noble Baroness, Lady Browning, for not having had a response to a request for a meeting with the appropriate Minister. I will indeed pursue this.

As the noble Lord, Lord Addington, said, we turned to the noble Baroness, Lady Browning, as we so often do; I also often turn to the noble Baroness, Lady Browning, and very wise we all are in doing so. The work of the committee is indeed helping us to better understand the challenges, the opportunities and the changes that are needed. Yes, I say to my noble friend Lord Touhig that the work of the committee will absolutely inform development of the revised autism strategy, as indeed it should.

I am very grateful to noble Lords for bringing their personal experience to this debate. The noble Lord, Lord Elliott, was most open about his personal experience and we heard from parents, loved ones and, indeed, grandparents in the form of the noble Lord, Lord Sterling. This brings the subject about which we are speaking very much to life. I do agree that too many autistic people face significant challenges in education, employment, health and wider participation in society. That has lasting impacts on independence and well-being. I very much agree with the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope, who observed early on in the debate that autistic people are individuals. Again, I very much take that point.

The response to that will be rooted not only in the new strategy but throughout the 10-year health plan and in—as we will see when it comes to this House—the Health Bill, particularly the moves to establish a single patient record, which will overcome a number of the points that noble Lords rightly raised. It is the case that, too often, people are expected to navigate very complex systems rather than simply secure the care and support they need and which would respond to their individual needs. I do not think that is so much to ask, and I am sure the committee would agree, and that does have to change. We are moving towards a needs-based approach, focused on early intervention and joined-up support around individual needs. That is central to our wider reforms, including changes to the SEND system.

The noble Lord, Lord Crisp, spoke about the model of Phoenix schools. I would certainly welcome, as would officials, more information about that. It is good to see good practice in action. I want to acknowledge the important local work that is under way. The noble Lord, Lord Wigley, spoke to this point. All of this is about building more inclusive communities where autistic people can thrive. The work that my noble friend Lady Dacres described in making Lewisham an autism-inclusive borough through its all-age autism strategy, was commendable and echoes with me. “Nothing about us without us” is, I think, good guidance.

The Autism Act was enacted in 2009 and I pay tribute to all those who went before us to make that happen. There have been subsequent autism strategies, but the reality is, as has been observed, that progress has been inconsistent and outcomes have not improved as they should have. We are very well aware—and I certainly am more so today—of the concerns raised about the importance of having an effective national strategy in place. I want to reassure your Lordships’ House that the current strategy does remain in place until it is replaced.

Noble Lords recognise, as I do, that the landscape has changed significantly since the current strategy was published in 2021. The challenges that face the health system now are much more acute. Services are seeing more patients with more complexity, and demand continues to outstrip supply. Indeed, as the noble Baroness, Lady Rock, and other noble Lords said, some 270,000 people are waiting for an autism assessment, and around 90% of them are waiting at least 13 weeks. That is why it is so important that we focus on earlier intervention and help people to get the support they need without necessarily needing a diagnosis as we expect now.

My noble friend Lady Goudie spoke about girls and women facing particular struggles. Data does show that we are seeing an increase in referrals for female diagnosis. There is, perhaps, a suggestion there that increasing awareness of this issue is supporting improvements in this area. I am very much looking forward in particular—but not exclusively—to the recommendations of the independent review on the prevalence of, and support for, mental health conditions, ADHD and autism, chaired by Professor Fonagy. It is expected this summer and will speak to the very point about how we can respond to increasing demand more effectively. It will look at drivers for that demand, about which, we must be honest, there is often not clarity, and I hope that this will greatly assist.

Now to the very important points raised with me about the Government’s plans for a future strategy and the timescales by the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, my noble friends Lady Ritchie and Lord Touhig, the noble Baroness, Lady Rock, and other noble Lords. As I said, we remain fully committed to publishing a revised and, I emphasise, cross-government autism strategy—the cross-government point being another aspect that I know the committee was very keen on. I will disappoint noble Lords somewhat, but I hope I can give reassurance that I am not going to disappoint them too much. In my view, it is important that the timetable for establishing the strategy takes proper account of the timelines of relevant cross-government reviews.

I will come back to this very shortly, but developing the revised strategy—the noble Baroness, Lady Browning, pressed this point—has to be grounded in evidence, shaped by engagement, as many noble Lords asked, and be realistic about the pressures facing the system. Therefore, we have to focus on ensuring that people can access support at the right time. On the point made by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope, we need to remove unnecessary barriers in a way that reflects individual needs. That means carefully considering a number of areas, including the recommendations of the committee’s Time to Deliver report, as well as, as I have mentioned, the findings of the independent prevalence and support review, which has not yet been published, and other important cross-government work, again spoken to in this debate, such as the independent Milburn review on the increase in the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training, and the insights from the consultation on SEND reform. All these will help shape the Government’s response and next steps.

Fortunately, we have these things in train and they are reporting soon, but not in time for the end of the current strategy. Therefore, I am not in favour, and I do not think any noble Lord would want me to be, of publishing a revised strategy to meet a timeline that does not now reflect the timelines that are more current, more evidence and more consideration. I want this to be the best strategy we can get. I want it to be a strategy that can deliver. In that respect, I cannot give a timeline, but I have indicated what is being considered and when those matters will be reported on.

I can assure the noble Lord, Lord Addington, my noble friend Lady Ritchie, the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, and other noble Lords, that we are absolutely engaging with those with lived experience. That is key to success. We will also consider the need for a new system to bring together information from autistic people. I think that is work we have to do.

To pick up some other points, I recently announced plans for a new cross-government mental health strategy—that will also be very relevant to this area. That will be published later this year. It will explicitly consider the mental health needs of autistic people and people with ADHD. Together with the autism strategy, all these areas of work, which are very practically focused, will support a more joined-up system for those with neurodevelopmental conditions or mental health needs.

Of course, the autism strategy does not sit in isolation, and we work closely with the Department for Education on SEND reforms ensuring that joined-up support is available across education and health and care services, as noble Lords have rightly expressed. It is key that we have the right support available at every stage of the education of children and young people. My noble friend Lady Antrobus referred to the RSE curriculum. The new RSE curriculum and guidance are quite clear that schools should ensure that subjects are accessible for pupils with SEND. It is ultimately the school’s responsibility to ensure that resources and teaching materials—I heard the point about the need for greater teacher time—are accessible for all pupils and are sensitive to pupils’ needs. I emphasise again that, no matter one’s age, we are all individuals. The consultation on SEND reform has just closed. The feedback is being considered before we set out the Government’s response and next steps. We are also taking steps now. On 5 June, we published guidance for the new experts at hand offer, and we have appointed a national panel of experts to develop new national inclusion standards and specialist provision packages.

I want to refer to some other points that were raised. I am happy to write to the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, with further detail on her assertion that a simple change to the Care Act to require an anticipatory care plan would be one way to manage that.

I will write to the noble Baroness, Lady Rock, my noble friend Lady Dacres and the noble Lord, Lord Addington, who raised matters relating to the justice system. The final update of the neurodiversity action plan was published in February. It highlights significant progress made across the criminal justice system in supporting autistic people. I should add that to improve prison screening processes and practices, a new additional learning needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new prisoner education service. The tool identifies adjustments that might support them.

I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, that our reforms to the Mental Health Act will limit the scope to detain people with a learning disability and autistic people so they can be detained for treatment only if they have a co-occurring medical health condition that requires hospital treatment. That is something we correctly spoke about at some length during the passage of the Mental Health Bill.

The noble Lord, Lord Kamall, pressed home the need for greater training for employers. I am sure that all of us in this Chamber know that employment rates remain significantly lower for autistic people. That is not acceptable. Our £1 billion connect to work programme will support around 300,000 people. This is alongside reforms to Disability Confident. We continue to work with employers to build more inclusive workplaces. Of course, the work of the former Health Secretary, Alan Milburn, through his review will be very helpful in this regard.

The noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, raised the fact that autistic people, especially women, are at higher risk of suicide. I recognise that. In the suicide prevention strategy, autistic people, children, young people, pregnant women and new mothers are priority groups for the provision of tailored and targeted support. On the matter of training, raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Rock, mandatory training on learning disability and autism for health and care staff will support the necessary shift to empowering patients and preventing sickness rather than just treating it. Again, that is key.

I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, that avoidable deaths are unacceptably high. We remain committed to reviewing every death notified to LeDeR and ensuring that learning from reviews is shared. On the point about local services, every integrated care board is expected to have an executive lead on LeDeR and to prioritise LeDeRs.

I am most grateful for the questions and for the way in which noble Lords have pressed the importance of the strategy. I accept that. I want to ensure that we get this right. With the assistance of the committee’s report, I know that we will.