Western Mail Column: Wales must take care as it leads the way on ASD

Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas, outlines how the Assembly Government is tackling this challenge of improving the provision for people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Autism is a lifelong developmental condition that can occur in varying degrees of severity resulting in difficulties with social interaction, communication and imagination.

Thankfully, awareness of ASD in Wales has come on in leaps and bounds over the past five or six years, but there is still so much more that we can all do.

That is why I was delighted to be able to announce on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government last week the launch of a new, wide-ranging action plan that will help the estimated 30,000 that are either directly or indirectly affected by Autism in Wales.

As a result of establishing the Autistic Spectrum Disorder Strategic Action Plan, Wales is the first country in the world to have established a national action plan for autism.

But we are conscious of the fact that with introducing an innovative policy comes responsibility, as our colleagues in England, Scotland, Ireland and beyond will now be looking to us to act as pioneers in this respect.

This new cross-cutting action plan, that has been allocated £1.8m for the first year – in addition to the £1.7m previously allocated to support children with ASD in the revenue support grant since last year – is intended to drive improvements across both children, young people’s and adult services in health, social and education services in Wales and expanding into areas of housing, leisure and society in general.

So, how do we see the action plan actually helping those who are either directly or indirectly affected by autism in Wales?

Integral to the success of the action plan is the appointment of an implementation support manager that will be able to drive forward the first key actions – which is why I am delighted with the appointment of Hugh Morgan, chief executive of Autism Cymru, to this crucial role.
One of the key actions is the appointment of an autism “champion” by each local authority in Wales, who will be tasked with mapping out needs and services at local level.

Hugh’s role will be vital in this respect. He will have to liaise with the LA champions and draw together the delivery of the action plan. This will provide the foundation for future work and is integral to its success. I am more than confident that Hugh and local agencies will deliver against this very challenging agenda.

While the first year is crucial to future developments, it is evident there is an ongoing need to undertake other actions to vastly increase the awareness and training of practitioners within the education, health and social care sectors.

We are also committed to establishing a Welsh Assembly Government Task and Finish Group this year, to investigate, evaluate and report on the evidence for effective interventions and models of services for adults with autism, an area that has not been adequately explored previously.

This will involve many stakeholders in the public, private and voluntary sector, including both major autism charities, Autism Cymru and National Autistic Society.

The Welsh Assembly Government has shown it’s commitment to this issue and the publication of the ASD Strategic Action Plan, the allocation of funding, the appointment of someone of Hugh’s calibre are all developments to be celebrated.

Autism is a global phenomenon and I’m both proud and excited by the fact Wales is playing a leading role in helping to develop responses to it on the world stage.

World first to improve autism services in Wales

New, wide-ranging efforts to tackle autism and improve services for those who are affected by the condition were announced today [Tuesday, 22 April] by the Welsh Assembly Government's Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas.

The Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Strategic Action Plan is to be launched today at the 3rd Wales International Autism Conference organised by Autism Cymru in Cardiff. Funding for the next 3 years has been identified with the first years funding of £1.8m being announced to drive forward key actions for the first years.

Wales is the first country in the world to have established a cross-cutting national strategic action plan for ASD that will help the estimated 30,000 people that are either directly or indirectly affected by Autism in Wales.

The Action Plan will drive improvements across both children, young people’s and adult services in health, social services and education services – and also expand into areas of housing, leisure and society in general.

Wales has secured another coup in the appointment of Hugh Morgan OBE, Chief Executive of Autism Cymru, to the post of Implementation Manager to drive forward the very important first 12 months developments in the mapping of needs and services which has to be undertaken by every Local Authority in Wales.

Speaking at today’s conference, Deputy Minister for Social Services, Gwenda Thomas, said:

"An increasing number of people are being diagnosed with Autism in Wales and there is a need to improve the provision that is available for children, young people and adults with ASD.

"It’s crucial that people with Autism have every opportunity to fulfil their potential which is why the Welsh Assembly Government has committed to having an ASD Strategic Action Plan in place which addresses the needs of all ages, touches on all agencies and involves individuals and their families/carers in the decision making process.

"We are doing something positive in Wales to address this issue and we can be proud of the fact that we are witnessing yet another ‘World first’ for Wales with the launch of this new Strategic Action Plan today.

"The Welsh Assembly Government has worked closely with both major Autism charities to develop our Action Plan. With real partnership working between a wide range of public, private and voluntary sector organisations we will see a positive and sustainable change that will benefit the individual with ASD, their families and society.

"I am delighted to have Hugh Morgan in the key role of Implementation Manager and am sure his world renowned expertise will only further enhance this ground breaking strategy.

RECYCLING BOOST FOR NEATH PORT TALBOT WELCOMED

Recycling efforts in Neath Port Talbot are to be boosted by an extra £2.1m over the next year, thanks to the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government.

Neath Labour AM Gwenda Thomas has welcomed the announcement by the Welsh Minister for Environment, Sustainability & Housing, Jane Davidson AM, of additional cash to increase recycling and composting rates and to cut the amount of waste going to landfill in Neath Port Talbot.

The funding is part of a £50 million Wales-wide package to local authorities under the Assembly Government’s ‘Sustainable waste management grant’. This is an increase of £15 million over the previous year.

Welcoming the announcement, Gwenda Thomas said:

"This is a major investment in the way our waste in Neath Port Talbot is managed, which will lead to more recycling and composting and less waste going to landfill.

“The extra cash will support Neath Port Talbot Council as it moves towards the target for recycling and composting 40 per cent of waste by 2010 and I am pleased to see that the Assembly Government is asking councils to target the extra funding on looking at ways to recycle food waste.

"We have made a great deal of progress with recycling in Wales, with the Labour-led Neath Port Talbot Council making terrific progress in increasing the percentage of waste being recycled, with the award winning curb side recycling scheme being a particular success story.

Gwenda added:

“However, we still have a lot to do and today's announcement will lead to further progress at a time when more and more people of all ages are telling me that they want to do their bit for the environment.

“Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face, and dealing with our waste effectively is one important way of tackling it. This investment clearly shows that the Labour-led Assembly Government is committed to a cleaner, greener Wales.”

Neath Guardian Column: 27 March 2008

I was delighted by the announcement made last week by the Labour Leader of Neath Port Talbot Council Derek Vaughan of a further set of very exciting regeneration initiatives for Neath and the surrounding area.

Investment in the area will reach £100m, with an £80m redevelopment of the Town Centre being topped by a further announcement that the Milland Road area and land surrounding the Canal will also be developed, with Neath Railway Station and Victoria Gardens also in line for a significant revamp.

The regeneration of our towns and our valley communities is a top priority for both the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government and the Labour-led Neath Port Talbot Council. This was demonstrated last year by the appointment of the AM for the Rhondda, Leighton Andrews, as the Deputy Minister with specific responsibility for economic and community regeneration. In recent months, the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government has announced that the highly successful Communities First initiative has been extended further into Neath, in particular the Neath South and Cimla wards. The initiative has been a spectacular success in areas such as Fairyland and the Melyn.

As Neath's AM, I’m also determined to support Derek Vaughan and the council in its aim to rebuild the Gwyn Hall, so that Neath has the first class arts and cultural venue that it deserves. I’d also like to thank the Friends of the Gwyn Hall for all the work they are doing to ensure that the Gwyn Hall is returned to the people of Neath.

The Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government has also funded two housing renewal areas in Neath Port Talbot, which have proven to be highly successful. I was delighted to see that the Council are pressing ahead with plans to declare areas of the Neath East Ward, which includes Melincryddan, as a housing renewal area within the next year.

The strong partnership between the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government and the Labour-led Neath Port Talbot Council is allowing initiatives such as these to happen.

If you wish to contact me for any help and assistance that you feel I can provide you as your local Assembly Member, please do not hesitate to contact my constituency office in Pontardawe on 01792 869993 or e-mail gwenda.thomas@wales.gov.uk. You can also keep up-to-date with my activities as your AM by logging on to www.gwendathomas.com

Western Mail Colimn: Bridging generation gap is important

Gwenda Thomas explains how the strategy for older people will work

THE second phase of the strategy for older people in Wales is set to build on the achievements of the first phase, which has seen the introduction of popular schemes such as free bus travel and free swimming for older people, and the appointment ofment a Commissioner for Older People – unique to Wales.

The strategy was originally launched in 2003 and the first phase aimed to raise the profile of older people’s needs and ensure that their views were sought in the development and delivery of local services.

I am proud to be able to say that the strategy has been successful and has been recognised internationally as best practice for the way to engage in which older people have been engaged in the decision making process.

The new phase of the strategy, – from April 2008-2013 – will be supported by an additional £7m from the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure that it is effectively implemented. It will concentrate on four key strategic and cross-cutting themes – engagement with older people; economic status of older people; health, wellbeing and independence; and implementation. Overall, this will help older people to stay independent and active for longer.

Indeed, as the number of older people grows, the challenge that this places on society grows too. One key to addressing this challenge is to unlock the potential for older people to play an even greater role in their communities.

Too often older people are treated as passive recipients, rather than active consumers with their own views. We must challenge this misconception and support independence rather than enforcing dependence, and our policies and services should reflect individual need rather than being predetermined by chronological age.

When creating services for older people we must recognise that they are as diverse as any other group in our society in terms of age range, gender, orientation, race, culture, religion and health; and, correspondingly, they have a wide range of goals, needs, knowledge and abilities.
As part of One Wales we are committed to developing a Wales that is inclusive and offers equity in opportunity and treatment to all people who live in Wales. For older people this is particularly significant.

Addressing the implications of an ageing Wales is not a quick fix – and one of the real challenges for the strategy over its next phase will be to evolve our approach so that issues about ageing and older people are mainstreamed.

As phase two of the strategy begins, I look forward to working with the new commissioner for older people Ruth Marks, who takes up her post next month.

This post will be at the heart of our wider vision for the future governance of Wales and will act as a very practical tool to help older people speak out about problems or issues of concern, and to seek redress when things go wrong.

Over the next five years I expect to see the good work already started to continue and develop further.

One key area of work is breaking down stereotypes. Research tells us that many older people in Wales are unable to live the lives that they want or deserve because they feel marginalised and discriminated against, with too many barriers preventing them from making a contribution.
These barriers prevent older people from using their knowledge and skills for the benefit of our economy and everyone in our society.

It is therefore essential that we take action to combat the prevalence of age discrimination and to build upon the role older people play in our society so that they are fully engaged in decision making.

To do this the Assembly Government is working with young and older people to help shape its future policy on intergenerational practice – people from across the generation gap working together to share experiences and expertise. Re-establishing links between generations is a very effective way to dispel myths and fears and encourage mutual respect between young and old.
I am also encouraged by the work being carried out across Wales to ensure that older people receive respect and dignity when in a care setting.

There are many challenges ahead, for example in addressing poverty among pensioners, making life-long learning a reality for more and increasing economic activity, to mention but a few
One of the real challenges for the strategy over its next phase will be to evolve our approach so that issues about ageing and older people are mainstreamed – that is they are integrated on an equitable basis in all aspects of public policy. We are on the right road and making steady progress.

Gwenda Thomas AM is deputy Minister for Social Services

New Service Framework for the Future Provision of Advocacy Service for Children in Wales

Joint Statement by Jane Hutt AM, Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills and Gwenda Thomas AM, Deputy Minister for Social Services, Welsh Assembly Government.

"The Welsh Assembly Government has a long-standing commitment to provide universal access to effective advocacy services for all children and young people in Wales. The right of children and young people to be heard directly on matters that affect them is a key component of our approach to developing policy that is firmly grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is particularly important that children and young people have every opportunity to seek redress when things go wrong and that service providers learn from the experience of service users in order to truly become citizen focussed.

We therefore have great pleasure in announcing today new measures to strengthen the voice of children and young people in the provision of public services in Wales. The Government intends to put in place a New Service Framework for the Future Provision of Advocacy Service in Wales. The new framework will be implemented over the next two years. At the heart of the Framework will be a new;

· National Independent Advocacy Board. The Board will take an independent, strategic overview of the development and delivery of advocacy services in Wales and will make recommendations to the National Assembly and to the Welsh Assembly Government. The Board will have a key role in advising on the regulatory framework for advocacy services; promoting best practice and identifying and developing the evidence base. Critically, the Board will also advise Welsh Ministers on the commissioning arrangements for advocacy at national, regional and local level and publish an opinion on arrangements made by the statutory Children and Young People Partnerships to commission and secure the provision of integrated specialist advocacy services. The Board will also consider the existing statutory framework and advise on whether this should be amended to allow for the continuing development of advocacy services.

The Board will be supported in its work by the Advocacy Development and Performance Unit that will be established within the Assembly Government. The Unit’s key function will be to commission, manage and monitor an all-Wales Advocacy and Advice Service and, in consultation with National Independent Advocacy Board, to develop the regulatory framework for the service and the occupational standards and training provision for staff working in the service.

The advocacy service itself will comprise:

- a new National Advocacy and Advice Service to provide a single point of contact via telephone or text 7, days a week for all children and young people in Wales. This will ensure universal access to first line advocacy and support on the full range of concerns expressed by children and young people. The national service will make the necessary links with other support services such as Childline Cymru, NSPCC and, where appropriate, will make referrals to the local/regional specialist integrated advocacy services and school based counselling services. The new service will be in operation in 2009/10.

- a locally/regionally commissioned Integrated Specialist Advocacy Service covering health services, social care services and education, with a particular focus on providing statutory advocacy and broader support to assist vulnerable children and young people. The integrated specialist service model will be commissioned locally or regionally through the Children and Young People Partnerships, beginning later this year.

In devising this framework the Welsh Assembly Government has given particular consideration to the recommendations contained in the recent report of the Children and Young People Committee. We are very grateful for the careful, serious and thoughtful examination that the Committee gave to this important topic. We agree with much of what the Committee has recommended, especially in respect of developing a skilled advocacy workforce. We wish to pay tribute to the work of the Committee and to their commitment to strengthen the voice of all children and young people through the development of robust advocacy arrangements for those who are most disadvantaged and vulnerable. The Government will be making a detailed response to the Committee’s report in due course.

Alongside the Committee’s report we have also considered evidence and views from a wide range of stakeholders; including respondents to our consultation last summer, and most importantly, to the contributions of children and young people themselves.

Central to the concerns of most stakeholders and to the Committee was the question of the independence and the perceived independence of specialist advocacy services. The Government shares the underlying principles on which the Committee has made its recommendation for a national commissioning body for such services but also notes the challenge that differing notions of independence present. There continues to be a difference of views on what constitutes an independent service.

The key strength of the service framework that we intend to put in place is the link it will make between the voice of the child or young person and mainstream services for children and young people. The Assembly Government sees the provision of advocacy services as an opportunity to develop awareness of children’s rights amongst service providers, to challenge those occupational and local cultures that do not effectively engage children and young people in the design and delivery of services and to ensure, wherever possible, the speedy resolution of difficulties. In this way, local responsibility for resolving grievances or remedying service deficiencies is not undermined.

However, these arrangements will need to have the confidence of children and young people. They will have an important role on the National Independent Advocacy Board which will oversee the arrangements that we intend to put in place. It is our intention that the Independent Advocacy Board will provide a unique, informed and fully independent account of the quality of advocacy services for children and young people in Wales to a degree that is unparalleled elsewhere in the UK or Europe. We also intend, by regulation, to require local/regional arrangements to be commissioned on at least a
three-year basis.

The Welsh Assembly Government also respects the need to have a continuous programme for improving the independence of services to strengthen the voices of children and young people and to ensure there is sufficient capacity and flexibility in the law so as to allow the Welsh Assembly Government and future Governments to respond to an ever-changing environment and expectations.

Wales already has an international reputation for innovation, working in partnership and for placing the voice of the child at the heart of its policies and programmes. The New Service Framework for the Future Provision of Advocacy Service in Wales represents a major step forward in Wales’ promotion of Article 12 of the UNCRC to ensure the rights of children and young people to have a say in what they think should happen when adults are making decision about them and to have their opinions taken into account."

Living longer, living better – launch of second phase of Older People’s Strategy

Deputy Minister for Social Services Gwenda Thomas will today [Thursday, 13 March] launch phase two of the Welsh Assembly Government’s Strategy for Older People at the Living Longer/Living Better conference at the Marriott Hotel, Cardiff.

The second phase will build on the achievements of the first phase, which has seen the introduction of popular schemes such as free bus travel and free swimming for older people, as well as the appointment of a Commissioner for Older People.

Originally launched in 2003, the first phase of the strategy aimed to raise the profile of older people’s needs and ensure that their views were sought in the development and delivery of local services.

It has been successful in achieving that aim with strong support from older people and age organisations. The strategy has also been recognised internationally as best practice for the way in which older people have been engaged in the decision making process.

The new phase of the strategy, from April 2008-2013, will focus on a range of key strategic areas including continuing to improve the health and well-being of older people and ways of enabling them to stay independent and active for longer.

Gwenda Thomas said:

“Older people now have the opportunity to live life to the full and are making an invaluable contribution to their families and their communities.”

“There are of course many challenges ahead. We must, for example, shed the stereotypes that surround older people, address poverty amongst pensioners, make life long learning a reality for more and increase economic activity.

“’One Wales’ strongly signals our commitment to developing a Wales that is inclusive and offers equity in opportunity. For older people living in Wales this is particularly significant.

“We are already on the right road, with the introduction of schemes such as free bus passes and free swimming for Older People and establishing the ground-breaking ‘made-in-Wales’ Commissioner for Older People.

“But addressing the implications of an ageing Wales is not a quick fix - and one of the real challenges for the strategy over its next phase will be to evolve our approach so that issues about ageing and older people are mainstreamed.”

Local Authorities and other partners, including the voluntary sector, were originally allocated £13million to ensure that the first phase of the strategy was effectively implemented. An additional £7 million for the next 3 years has now been added to this amount, making a total investment of £20 million, to ensure the effective implementation of the Strategy.

The Strategy for Older People is available at: http://wales.gov.uk/about/strategy/strategypublications/strategy_olderpeople/?lang=en