A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism July 2007
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism (APPGA) has launched a report revealing an implementation gap between the policies recommended in the National service framework for children, young people and maternity services (the Children's NSF) in England and the reality of services on the ground.
Accounting for the difference between policies and practice on the ground is one of the core aims of the APPGA and the Children's NSF was chosen as a subject because it is so wide-ranging and, if it were to be implemented fully, has the potential to move towards fulfilling a number of the APPGA manifesto objectives.
The report, Policy into practice, was based on an online survey of local authorities. It found that implementation of the Children's NSF is not seen as an immediate priority or a must-do by many local authorities, which are expected to implement the document by 2014 but this long-term vision often results in other, more immediate demands taking precedence.
The NSF includes an exemplar chapter on autism, one of the only autism-specific policy documents in existence in England. But only 35% of officials and 10% of councillors said their authority uses it; and almost half of officials (44%) and 70% of councillors were not even aware of it.
There are also examples of good practice highlighted in the report. It found that local authorities with a named manager responsible for autism were much more likely to use the autism exemplar chapter and to keep a count of the number of children with autism in their area.
The report and a one-page summary of the report, with a list of actions you can ask your MP to take at a local level, are attached and are also available via the APPGA website: www.autism.org.uk/appga.
Summary (33KB 
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Full Report (167KB *)
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