Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 2:09 pm on 2 November 2016.
Thank you for that very important point, and I’m sure the Minister who will be taking the Bill through the Assembly has heard what you have to say. Can I say that I too recently met with a local autism group? Given that my constituency neighbours your region, many of the people that came to the meeting were actually from your region. I was very concerned to hear that those parents felt that they could not begin to get their children on the assessment path unless they were given permission to do so by a school. Can I say that that is not the correct position? That is not the case. As a result of that meeting, I have asked my officials to write to Neath Port Talbot local education authority—and indeed, we’ve picked up this feedback from Pembrokeshire authority as well—to make it absolutely clear to the LEA that is not the case, that is not the only referral route in, and that they should not be saying that to parents. We’re also developing a new resource for parents that will explain quite clearly their existing rights and how they can access help for their children, and that, I’m hoping, will be published early in the new year.