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Autism Spectrum Disorder (PE1213)
Item 3 is consideration of a petition. Now that the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill has been passed, petition PE1213 has been brought back to the committee. Members will see that the clerks have prepared a paper in which it is recommended that the committee write to the Minister for Children and Early Years on the issue and that the letter be copied to the convener of the Equal Opportunities Committee, so that they are aware of the petitioner's concerns and can take the matter into account in their scrutiny work.
I am happy for us to follow up on the petition by writing to the minister. Could we ask him in our letter not just to comment on the petition and on the position in relation to the ASL legislation, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and so on, but, specifically, whether the Government intends to review current assessment, diagnosis and appeal procedures for autism?
Do we write to the petitioner at this point to let her know what we are doing, or do we wait until we get a reply?
The petitioner will be notified of the action that we have taken, to keep them informed. Does the committee agree to write to the minister in the terms that are recommended in the paper, with the additional points that Mr Macintosh made, and to copy the letter to the Equal Opportunities Committee? We will notify the petitioner of our action and get back to them once the committee has considered any responses that it receives.
Members indicated agreement.
Meeting closed at 11:46.
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