A report providing the Committee with assurance that the Autism Board is working with community partners in order to improve the lives of people in Reading with Autism.

The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Services submitted a report providing the Committee with assurance that the Autism Board was working with community partners in order to improve the lives of people in Reading with Autism.  The Terms of Reference of the Board were attached to the report at Appendix A.

The report explained that the Autism Board had been launched with the inaugural meeting having taken place in July 2019, ensuring that it reflected current thinking and policy with regard to Autism.  The Board was chaired by a manager from the Directorate of Social Care and Health.  The Board had been designed to drive forward the work of developing the Reading response to Autism and it would meet four times a year in order to inform the creation and implementation of an action plan to deliver the national Autism Strategy.  It would seek to take feedback from, and deliver plans to, a number of different working groups and would aim to influence commissioners across the sector to develop improved services for children, young people and adults who had Autism.  The Board would be inclusive, ensuring the active participation of a wide range of experts by experience, parents and carers and would constantly seek to raise awareness of Autism within the wider community and work to enable autistic people to be fully included in society.  Renewed Terms of Reference had been shared across the Board and membership had also been revisited to ensure the there was good representation across the sector.

The Terms of Reference and aims of the Board had been discussed at the first meeting and, subject to sign-off, these were as follows:

• To develop and agree the Autism Strategy for children, young people and adults with autism;
• To govern the implementation of the Strategy to ensure its effectiveness and that it remained responsive to local need, national guidance and requirements;
• Update the local offer regarding outcomes for people and improvement of services;
• To support and monitor progress of the development of services for people with autism and their families;
• To provide advice to commissioners about the needs of the population with autism and ensure that commissioned services were needs led co-produced with children and adults with autism together with their supporting voluntary sector/parent organisations.

The next tranche of meetings would see the work plan evolve and start to shape the future programme and some of the themes that had been raised at the first meeting were:

• Pressure points across the Health Education and Social Care system;
• Service Deficits or gaps in provision;
• Developing a local strategy;
• Neurodiversity – different strengths and challenges;
• Ensuring links with SEND/Family Services;
• Celebrating good news stories and positive outcomes.

The Committee discussed the report and agreed that an update report be submitted to a future meeting.

Resolved –

(1)     That the reformation of the Autism Board with a new Terms of Reference and focus on improved outcomes for people in Reading living with Autism, and their carers, be noted;

(2)     That an update report be submitted to a future meeting.