Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that services provided by (a) City of York Council and (b) other local authorities are autism-friendly; and what (i) funding, (ii) national guidelines and (iii) training is in place to support local authorities in providing such services.

The Government has established a one-off, unring-fenced 2022/23 Services Grant of £822 million to support priorities identified by local authorities such as the City of York Council, which could include funding for training and staffing to meet the needs of autistic adult residents

The updated national autism strategy was published on 21 July 2021, supported by over £74 million in the first year to improve understanding of autism in society, reduce diagnosis waiting times and improve access to public services for autistic people, including high quality health and social care. The strategy is supported by the existing statutory guidance for local authorities and National Health Service organisations on implementing the Autism Act 2009. The statutory guidance sets out local authorities’ and NHS organisations’ duties to support autistic adults, including ensuring the accessibility of public services for autistic adults and provision of training to support delivery of these services.