Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive will give careful consideration to the findings of the National Initiative for Autism Screening and Assessment when they are published later this year.

The Scottish Executive recognises the importance of advocacy in enabling people to access information they need and to make informed choices about their care.We announced in February further support for developing independent advocacy by establishing the Advocacy Safeguards Agency and the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance.

Work on this will be taken forward in the context of the Public Health Institute for Scotland's Autistic Spectrum Disorders Needs Assessment Report.

NHS Education for Scotland will bring a strategic, multi-disciplinary approach to education and training for staff in NHSScotland. Similar work will be carried out by the Scottish Social Services Council in relation to social work. I also refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-26039 on 30 May 2002.

It is the responsibility of each trust, as the employer, to recruit appropriately and to ensure that individuals have the training required to provide effective patient care.Core clinical training for professionals such as speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and clinical psychologists encompasses autistic spectrum disorder. Continuing Professional Development provided locally by trusts for the treatment of specific conditions will differ according to local needs.NHS Education for Scotland will bring a strategic multidisciplinary approach to education and training for staff in NHSScotland providing a useful overview in many contexts including autistic spectrum disorders.Guidance on family friendly policies including flexible working, childcare, breast-feeding and career breaks has been issued to NHSScotland as part of the new Staff Governance Standard.In addition, the Scottish Executive will shortly be issuing a Strategy for the Allied Health Professions which will address recruitment and retention at a strategic level and play into the proposals already announced earlier this year for workforce development.With regard to Educational Psychologists the Scottish Executive is increasing both the level of support available to each trainee educational psychologist, and the number of training places available. Scottish Executive support in this area will total over £1 million each year. Trainee educational psychologists cover autism in their training and once in post have opportunities to update their knowledge through Continuing Professional Development.

The importance of multi-agency assessment for pupils with special educational needs is encouraged and promoted in Circular ED 4/96 Children and Young Persons with Special Educational Needs - Assessment and Recording and in the Manual of Good Practice in Special Educational Needs, both of which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 4386 and 3984). The Scottish Executive is currently reviewing the assessment and recording process and consultation events are being held to further develop the outline proposals for change, published in February.Further improvements in the diagnosis and assessment of autistic spectrum disorders may be proposed by the National Initiative for Autism Screening and Assessment, whose findings will be considered by the Scottish Executive later this year.

The Scottish Executive has no plans to issue a report on the mapping exercise carried out by the Scottish Society for Autism. Information from the exercise will be distributed widely as part of the national service network recommended by The same as you?

The Scottish Executive is conscious that the greatest contribution to the reduction of risk, and best intervention, is the earliest possible detection of a disorder, with continuing effective co-ordinated interventions by all relevant agencies. With this in mind we have commissioned the Public Health Institute for Scotland to conduct a review of child and adolescent mental health provision. This report, which will be available later this year, and the Autistic Spectrum Disorders Needs Assessment Report published in February, will better inform planning and provision decisions in this area of care.

The information requested is not held centrally.

In recognition of the importance of supporting carers we have made £10 million a year available to local authorities under the Strategy for Carers in Scotland. This is double the resources previously available. These resources are being used to support carers in a variety of ways and can be used for the training of carers in functions related to their supporting role.