Autism and ADHD Assessments

Peter Bottomley Excerpts

Monday 6th February 2023 Westminster Hall

[Elliot Colburn (Carshalton and Wallington) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered e-petitions 589667 and 597840, relating to assessments for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Fovargue. Let me begin by reading out the prayer of the petitions. Petition 589677 reads:

“The Government should create an emergency fund to deal with the massive waiting lists for autism & ADHD assessments for children AND adults. This would provide resources for local health services to deal with current waiting lists and new patients.”

It received over 21,000 signatures, including 29 from my Carshalton and Wallington constituency. Petition 597840 reads:

“The Government should commission a review of how Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) assessments are managed by the NHS, including through Shared Care Agreements, and increase funding to reduce waiting times.”

The petition reached over 10,500 signatures, including eight from Carshalton and Wallington. I want to put it on record that although the petitions did not reach the usual 100,000-signature threshold for a debate, the Petitions Committee felt that the issue was important. We have been busy working our way through the 100,000-signature petitions and we have managed to catch up, so we thought that this was an important topic for us to discuss.

I thank the numerous campaigners and organisations that have met me and provided me and hon. and right hon. Members from across the House with briefings in preparation for the debate. They include the petition creators, Jessica and Lisa; TV and radio host and autism activist Melanie Sykes; Christine and Henry from ADHD UK; and Sarah and Tim from the National Autistic Society. I will go into more detail later about their experiences and recommendations. I also thank the Petitions Committee team, which has, as always, worked incredibly hard behind the scenes to make the debate happen and has also conducted an incredible survey to ask the petitioners to share more about their experiences and views of autism and ADHD assessments, which received over 7,000 responses. I will share some of the findings of that survey later.

[Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)]

I am sorry, Ms Fovargue, that I will be unable to stay to make a speech of my own. I thank my hon. Friend and all those he is working with for helping us in Parliament to put neurodiversity on the map, because it is not unusual. It is part of what is usual.

Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: Section 35 Power

Peter Bottomley Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to listen to the former parliamentary leader of the SNP, the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford). He at least did spend a bit more time on section 33 than his successor, the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn) did.

It is certainly true that there are three ways the UK Government can approach this Scottish Bill. One is to say that it is deeply unpopular with many people in Scotland, do nothing about it and let the SNP take the political flak, which would probably reduce the number of SNP Members of the Scottish Parliament and SNP Members in the UK Parliament at future elections. For some people, that would be the political way forward.

The better way forward, if there is something substantial in the problems that this Bill may create for the UK Equality Act 2010, is to take action under section 33 or section 35 of the Scotland Act.

The Government had a choice, and they have chosen to go with section 35, and I think that is the right choice. The right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber refers to what has happened since 2015, and I remind him that in 2017 the SNP got 37% of the vote in Scotland and the Conservatives got 44% of the vote in the country as a whole.

We will see how this matter works out. The best way forward, if I may give advice to everybody, is to follow the suggestion from the Secretary of State to the First Minister that the Governments get together and work out how to have a gender recognition Bill in Scotland that is obviously compatible with the Equality Act, so that women do not feel they are losing any kind of their security in any way whatever. I commend that to the House.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle]

No, I will not give way to you, or anyone else. [Interruption.] I mean to the hon. Member.

On the substance of this, ignoring that horrible speech we have just heard—

[Sir Peter Bottomley]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Did you hear anything transphobic in the previous speech?

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I have to say to the Father of the House that different Members of this House will interpret speeches in different ways. I suggest that we move on quickly, and I think the hon. Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Lloyd Russell-Moyle) needs to calm down, moderate his language and move on to the substance of the debate, otherwise I will ask him to resume his seat.

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bottomley Excerpts

Wednesday 16th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The hon. Gentleman is talking total nonsense and I do not have anything to add to what I have already said.

[Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)]

In addition to having concerns for Ukraine, my constituents are also concerned about planning policy. I wrote to the Prime Minister in October 2019 about the threat to the Goring gap. It is against Government policy and against the public interest for every green field that is a strategic gap to be built on. An inspector has made a decision that would wipe away the planning powers of every local council in the country. May I ask whether the Prime Minister will see me and whether the Government will revoke this inspector’s mistaken decision?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for that. As someone with a massive proportion of green belt in my constituency, I empathise with the frustrations that Members from across the House feel with some planning decisions that are made. However, once a planning decision is final, it cannot be challenged unless it is successfully challenged in the courts.