The National Autistic Society has launched a guide to help people with autism and their families challenge cuts to local authority and NHS services in their area.
With local councils setting their budgets for the next financial year, we have been contacted by many of our supporters who are concerned that services for people with autism in their area are facing cuts.
While we recognise the financial pressures that local councils are facing, having had their funding from central Government reduced, we are extremely concerned about the impact of cutting vital services which provide a lifeline for so many families. The right support at the right time can make an enormous difference to people affected by autism, preventing them from reaching crisis point - at even greater cost to the local authorities left to pick up the pieces.
The guide – SOS: Save Our Services – explains how to begin a campaign against cuts, including how to gather evidence to make your campaign more persuasive. It sets out how decisions about local authority and NHS services are made, which decision-makers to contact, and how best to influence them. It also explains more about the legal duties that local authorities and health services have in relation to support for people with autism, and what you can do if you believe that proposed cuts may put them in breach of these duties.
Download a copy of ‘SOS: Save Our Services’.
If you would like further advice or information, or a hard copy of SOS: Save Our Services, contact our Campaigns Team:
Email: campaign@nas.org.uk
Call: 020 7923 5799
Write: The National Autistic Society, Campaigns Team, 393 City Road, London, EC1V 1NG.
Autistic Man Asks Prime Minister To Reconsider Cuts
A Bournemouth resident who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome has appealed to the prime minister to think about the human cost of the public spending cuts.
Garry Chapman, 36, told the Bournemouth Echo that hundreds of people in his local area alone will be impacted when the cuts mean that day centres for people with learning disabilities are closed.
“You’re sending out the wrong message to people. Do the right and honourable thing by stopping cutting, and help the people of this country by putting smiles back on their faces,” he said in a message sent to David Cameron.
“Keep day centres open. There is no need to close them. This is a people’s country. Let’s all work together and make it a better place to live.”
Also speaking to the local newspaper, Nadine Evans, service manager for community care services at Bournemouth council, said that a review of social care given to all the council’s users is being carried out to ensure funding is available for care for all vulnerable people.