Autism

Debate between Cheryl Gillan and Mark Tami

Thursday 29th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House notes that World Autism Awareness Week 2018 runs from 26 March to 2 April; believes that there is a lack of understanding of the needs of autistic people and their families; and calls on the Government to improve the support provided to autistic children in school and to autistic adults in or seeking employment, to reduce waiting times for autism diagnosis, and to promote a public awareness campaign so people can make the changes necessary for the UK to become autism-friendly.

I welcome to the Front Bench the Minister for Care, who will be responding to the debate. I gather that she chaired an autism accountability meeting on Monday, so she brings knowledge of that to the debate, and I look forward to hearing what she has to say. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate during World Autism Awareness Week itself.

I want to put on record my great pride at chairing the all-party group on autism, which is a really good cross-party group that embraces people from both sides of the Chamber. It is important that we continue this debate on a cross-party basis because, as we must remind ourselves, in each Member’s constituency we probably have approximately 1,000 autistic people. The accepted statistic is about one in 100 people. This is therefore a subject that we share between us, and one on which we can make good progress when we all work together.

I am also aware that many Members have family members who are on the autism spectrum. I wish to put on record my thanks to colleagues who have shared their own experiences, because those experiences add to the body of knowledge and to the effective way in which we can improve situations for people with autism and their families.

The fact that this is such an important issue is reflected particularly in the National Autistic Society’s Too Much Information campaign, with which many of us will be familiar. Only 16% of autistic people and their family members think that the public really understand autism in any meaningful way. As a result, an alarming number of people—79% of autistic people and 70% of families—feel socially isolated. At a time when our Prime Minister has put in place a Minister for loneliness, we must not forget the isolation that can be caused for autistic people through behaviour or a lack of understanding in this area. Half of autistic people and their families sometimes do not even go out because they are worried about how people will react to autism, while 28% of autistic people have been asked to leave a public space because of behaviour associated with their autism.

[Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside) (Lab)]

Does the right hon. Lady agree that the situation is also very frustrating for those who fail to get a diagnosis of autism, particularly when their local authority is not able to provide one, or says that it does not have the resources to do so? Even if a person pays privately for one, the local authority will not accept that as a diagnosis.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Cheryl Gillan and Mark Tami

Wednesday 8th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Gillan]

I will continue to do that on a regular basis. One thing that is so exciting about the Welsh economy is our huge potential in the creative industries. There is tremendous potential between the BBC and ITV, which is expanding its news coverage, and S4C, but our broadcasting industry must face the reality of the budget within which we must work, thanks to the previous Government’s mismanagement of the economy. However, I stress that the television industry is the place for independent companies to do business.

[Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside) (Lab)]

3. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the A400M military transport aircraft and Airbus in Wales.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mrs Cheryl Gillan)]

I have already held discussions with my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary on a number of military issues that affect Wales, and I have arranged to speak to him again during this two-week sitting of Parliament. I also wrote to him specifically on that issue in July, highlighting the importance of Airbus to the Welsh economy.

[Mark Tami]

During the election, a number of Tory candidates in north Wales published leaflets that contained a pledge from the then Leader of the Opposition, who is now the Prime Minister, that that project would go ahead. Is that pledge still valid? Is it worth anything?

[Mrs Gillan]

I know that the hon. Gentleman takes a great interest in such matters, and so he should, because Airbus employs, I believe, more than 6,500 people at the Broughton plant in his constituency. The order book for the A400M currently looks very healthy, with orders for more than 180 aircraft worldwide and at least 22 for the UK. I am confident that the position is secure.