On the launch day of the Isle of Wight council’s consultation on the future of autism services, the IOW branch officer for the National Autistic Society, Louise Foley has raised serious concerns about a comment made by Cllr Roger Mazillius, the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Housing and Community Safety.
Louise has written to the chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, expressing the concern of members of the Island’s group by comments made by Cllr Mazillius in a council press release issued last week.
In the council’s press release, (which we ran on VB), Cllr Mazillius said, “This consultation will allow the council to support individuals and communities to take more responsibility for themselves and each other so they are less dependent on public services.”
Why the concern?
Autism is a condition that restricts individuals from looking after themselves. Some people are able to live relatively independent lives, but others may need a lifetime of specialist support and are therefore unable to take responsibility for themselves.
Given Cllr Mazillius’ comments, members of the IOW branch of the National Autistic Society are urging the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to ensure that correct scrutiny be given to any future strategy of autism services provided by the council.
Autism members concerned at Cllr Mazillius’ words
Below is the letter sent to Cllr Wayne Whittle, the chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Dear Cllr Whittle,
I am writing to draw your attention to a new publication, Getting in on the Act, a ’10 questions’ guide for overview and scrutiny committees looking at implementation of the statutory guidance for adults with autism.
The Autism Act 2009 was England’s first ever disability-specific law. This groundbreaking piece of legislation aims to revolutionise the way services are delivered to adults with autism. The Act itself put two key duties on the Government. The first was to produce a strategy for adults with autism, published in March 2010 and the second was to publish statutory guidance for local authorities and local health bodies, published in December 2010. I would like to urge you to use this new guide to assess how well strategy and statutory guidance are being taken forward locally.
At present many members are concerned with regards to the quote made by Roger Mazillius “This consultation will allow the council to support individuals and communities to take more responsibility for themselves and each other so they are less dependent on public services.”
The guide is a joint publication from the Centre for Public Scrutiny and The National Autistic Society, and can be downloaded at http://www.autism.org.uk/gettingi?nontheact
This is an area where your committee could help to ensure that local services are delivering good outcomes for adults with autism. By supporting this group effectively, local authorities can avoid more costly, intensive interventions such as crisis management.
Therefore I recommend that your committee utilise this guide during your scrutiny for the implementation of the Autism Act on the Isle of Wight.
Yours sincerely,
Louise Foley
NAS IOW branch officer
