Agenda item

To present the findings and recommendations of the Task and Finish Group.

 

a)    Accept the findings of the Task and Finish Group.

b)    To ask the service:-

·         to undertake an audit of the situation regarding the professional training of staff who work in the field as a first step.

·         Then to consider setting a target for completing training with the aim to include it on the core training programme as follows:-

a) staff who work or who come into contact with people with autism (by department and including schools) and

b) raising awareness training amongst all Council staff.

·      to build on the training for staff in schools and surgeries regarding referring to the Neuro-Developmental Team in cases where they are not eligible.

·      to encourage all the Councillors to follow the Autism Awareness training e-module and attend open days across the County which enables everyone to experience the autism bus.

c)    It was recommended that the Scrutiny Committee in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Children and Families to contact the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property to secure input from the Additional Learning Needs Service to any development of a new school or any future adaptations to schools to make them suitable for individuals with autism e.g. quiet spaces, the ability to dim lighting etc. It would be beneficial to establish the principle of ensuring input from the Autism Team (Children and Adults Department) for any new development or adaptation to any other Council building.⁠

ch) Following concern that the plan was currently grant-funded, that the Care Scrutiny Committee asks for an update after a further 12 months of operating to ensure that progress is continuing, and request the input of Education and Health once again.

 

Submitted - the report of the Chair of the Autism Plan Task and Finish Group, Councillor Elwyn Jones, which invited the committee to scrutinise findings and recommendations of the Task and Finish Group.

 

In the absence of Councillor Elwyn Jones from the meeting, the report was presented by the Democracy and Language Services Manager. It was noted that the Chair of the Task and Finish Group wished to:-

 

·         Thank all the officers, not only for their work in preparing before the task group meeting, but also for their contribution during the meeting and their clear and honest answers.

·         Thank his fellow councillors for the preparation work before the meeting and for presenting such good questions during the meeting, and that he was of the opinion that ensuring clear understanding came as a result of robust questioning and responses.

·         Emphasise that every member also had an integral role to participate in the training available in the autism field.

 

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. 

 

A member of the Task and Finish Group noted that:-

 

·         The personal experience and professional insight of Councillors Dawn Jones and Gwynfor Owen had steered the Group's discussions, and he thanked them for their valuable contributions.

·         It was a pleasure to collaborate and see the work that went into the autism field and clear transparency and honest discussion was had with the officers.

·         He wished to give specific attention to recommendation 3, which related to ensuring that the development of any new school or adjustments to any school in the future was suitable for individuals with autism, and recommendation 4, which asked for an update for the committee after a further 12 months of operating to ensure that progress continued.

 

The Statutory Director of Social Services noted that:-

 

·         This was an excellent report and that he was happy that the Group had addressed this extremely important subject.

·         The autism field was a field that was increasing in terms of the number of people who needed support and was a field that increased in terms of complexity too.

·         One of the most challenging factors was that a grant paid for a substantial percentage of the new Autism Team, and because there was no assurance that the Welsh Government would protect this money in the future, there was a need to safeguard the Council and the people who received the services by looking at that.

·         There was definitely a need to take advice when planning any new building or adaptation to any of the Council's buildings or schools to ensure that they were suitable for individuals with autism, but it would suggest amending the wording of recommendation 3 as follows in order to reflect the fact that the Education Department had their own team who had specific expertise in terms of building schools, and also to clearly highlight the responsibilities:-

 

Recommend that the Scrutiny Committee, jointly with the Cabinet Member for Children and Families, contacted the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property to ensure input from the Additional Learning Needs Service for the development of any new school or adaptations to any school in the future in order to make it suitable for individuals with autism, e.g. quiet space, the ability to dim lighting etc. It would be beneficial to establish the principle of ensuring input from the Autism Team (⁠Children and Adults Department) for any new development or adaptation to any other building.

 

The work of the Task and Finish Group was welcomed and it was noted that this was one example of what the Care Scrutiny Committee had done to ensure that appropriate attention was given to people with autism. Everyone was thanked for their work, especially those councillors who had insisted that appropriate attention was given to the autism field following receiving a complaint about the service some years ago.

 

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families noted that:-

 

·         The recommendations of the Task and Finish Group would be very beneficial and that she agreed with the Social Services Statutory Director's observations and was happy to support in any way that she could.

·         She would encourage the members to go on the Autism Bus and discussions had been held regarding hosting training beyond the Autism Bus on how to support staff in order to support families where a child was waiting for diagnosis or had been diagnosed.

 

The Cabinet Member for Education noted that:-

 

·         She also felt very strongly about this important field and was happy to see the report and the recommendations and the genuine and clear effort to promote collaboration across teams and organisations, which was extremely important.

·         She agreed with the observation in terms of referring an element of the work to the ALN Service.

·         She welcomed the referral to avoid only allowing individuals with autism (i.e. without learning difficulties) to fall through the net because ensuring support to people who did not always highlight their autism was extremely important.

·         She completely agreed with the need to consider the needs of children and young people with autism when planning schools and the need for quiet areas to ensure that individuals had space to retreat into in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a school.

·         She was concerned about the waiting lists for diagnosis and concern for those young people where the school environment was too much for them and the lack of consistent support to their specific needs. 

·         She took advantage of every opportunity to convey the message to the Welsh Government regarding the staffing challenges and capacity challenges, especially in the educational psychologists field.

·         She welcomed the report and the recommendations and was happy to collaborate in terms of the elements relevant to the education field.

 

It was enquired whether there was an intention to extend the autism training to all school staff, including catering and cleaning staff etc. In response, it was noted that the Cabinet Member for Education would ask the Department regarding that and expressed how important it was to extend the training to everyone because of sensitivity surrounding different foods and textures etc.

 

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families noted that:-

 

·         There was a reference in the Council's Equality Plan to the needs of neurodivergent people and that there was an intention to look at employment and equality matters in the neurodiversity context and as a result of the Buckland Review on Autism Employment.

·         She agreed with the observation regarding the lack of professional people, especially educational psychologists, to work in the field, and that letters had been sent to the Minister for Education asking to establish an Educational Psychology course in Bangor University as this would be very beneficial to the people of North Wales.

 

RESOLVED

1)      To accept the findings of the Task and Finish Group.

2)      To ask the service:-

·         to undertake an audit of the situation regarding the professional training of staff who work in the field as a first step.

·         Then to consider setting a target for completing training with the aim to include it on the core training programme as follows:-

a)      staff who work or who come into contact with people with autism (by department and including schools) and

b)      raising awareness training amongst all Council staff.

·      to build on the training for staff in schools and surgeries regarding referring to the Neuro-Developmental Team in cases where they are not qualified.

·      to encourage all the Councillors to follow the Autism Awareness training e-module and attend open days across the County which enables everyone to experience the autism bus.

3)      Recommend that the Scrutiny Committee, jointly with the Cabinet Member for Children and Families, would contact the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property to ensure input from the Additional Learning Needs Service for the development of any new school or adaptations to any school in the future to make it suitable for individuals with autism e.g. quiet space, the ability to dim lighting etc. It would be beneficial to establish the principle of ensuring input from the Autism Team (Children and Adults Department) for any new development or adaptation to any other building from the Council.⁠

4)      Following concern that the plan is currently funded through a grant, the Care Scrutiny Committee asked for an update after a further 12 months of operating to ensure that progress continues, requesting the input of Education and Health once again.