4. Will the First Minister make a statement on provision for people on the autism spectrum in Wales? OAQ(5)0509(FM)[W]

Wales was the first country in the UK to take a national approach to autism. We’ve provided £6 million for a new national integrated autism service. Our latest strategic action plan was published on 30 November as a result of extensive consultation.

Thank you for that response. The National Autistic Society Wales has asked for a record of the number of people on the spectrum in order to assist local authorities to plan services more effectively and in a more comprehensive manner. One would expect a record of people of autism who have a care plan from next April onwards, but there are a number of people who are autistic who don’t have a care plan and there are others who go in and out of the system. Can I ask, therefore, when will your Government insist that a full record is kept in order to ensure that the proper resources and facilities are provided, where needed, in all parts of Wales?

I thank the Member for that question. It’s very relevant to the work that’s been taken forward by an implementation advisory group for the autistic spectrum disorder strategic action plan for Wales. In fact, the National Autistic Society is sitting on that implementation group, and, as it’s World Autism Awareness Week later this month, the group’s going to be meeting for the first time at the end of the month. But, of course, looking at that plan, it needs the data; we need to work on those data. But it’s also about the new 26-week waiting-time target from referral to first appointment for children with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions to speed up access to support.

Minister—sorry, leader of the house—I understand that, obviously, the strategic action plan’s only been in place for some five or six months now, but what we really need to see is how the gaps in the provision of services, particularly for adults, are going to be filled. Within Pembrokeshire, there’s a massive gap in the provision of services for adults with autism and neither Pembrokeshire County Council nor the local health board appear to have a cohesive enough method of being able to plug those gaps. So, what can you, as the Welsh Government, do to encourage that to happen, because I can tell you now, your strategic action plan isn’t even touching the sides on that?

I think the £6 million we’ve put into developing our new integrated autism service will start to have the kind of impact that the Member would want to see. It’s an investment over three years. It’s going to be rolled out across Wales by 2019, and it’s going to see new specialist teams in every region providing adult diagnosis, support in the community, and advice and information for adults with autism and for their parents and carers.