Creating a better future: Our response to the Autism Act review

8th September 2025

Avenues and Autism Hampshire are calling for consistent funding, stronger accountability, and meaningful inclusion of autistic voices to ensure everyone gets the support they need.

The appeal is part of Avenues' detailed response to a national inquiry reviewing the Autism Act 2009 and the Government’s current Autism Strategy.

Thanks to valuable input from supporters, families and colleagues, the response reflects a broad range of lived experiences and professional insight.

Jo Land, Group Chief Executive of Avenues, said: “We hope this review leads to real and lasting change for everyone still facing injustice and inequality. The Autism Act and strategy have made a difference - with greater public awareness and funded diagnostic services for adults.

“However, progress is inconsistent. The positive intentions of the Act are often weakened by chronic underfunding, regional differences and a lack of accountability.”

The Autism Act

The Autism Act 2009 was the first piece of legislation in England to specifically address the needs of autistic people. It led to the development of the Government’s autism strategy and accompanying statutory guidance.

The current review is examining how well the Act and strategy are working - and what more needs to be done.

Key issues raised

“We hear from those we work with that sensory adaptations, reasonable adjustments and support strategies are often not considered unless advocated and fought for.”

Key issues raised in our submission included:

• Long waits for diagnosis, leaving people without support.
• Gaps in post-diagnostic support.
• Limited involvement of autistic people in shaping services.
• Underfunded social care, high thresholds for support, and a shift toward less specialist commissioning.
• A lack of accessible healthcare and employment opportunities.

The feedback gathered from the people we support highlighted that many autistic people are still excluded from their communities, struggle to access basic healthcare, and are left without the support they are legally entitled to.

Our response included powerful testimony from autistic adults, family members and professionals.

One autistic person told us: “It's hard to access the community being autistic; I can't travel by myself and attend community support groups. I need support to even attend, so a lot of groups available are out of the question, as I can't get the support I need to attend.”

Another person we support said: “The overcrowded, underfunded mental health system. Anyone working in mental health must have autism training... Tackling minor problems before they become major. I am in effect barred from mental health inpatient "care," even in my darkest moments, because it is known to be completely unsuitable to me.”

What we need

Our joint response sets out a clear case for action:

• Mandatory implementation of key initiatives like reasonable adjustments and autism-specific training.
• Coproduction with autistic people at every stage of planning and delivery.
• Accountability mechanisms to ensure local and national bodies deliver on commitments.
• Investment in community-based services to reduce inappropriate reliance on inpatient care.
• Consistent terminology and public education to tackle stigma and stereotypes.

Every autistic person should be able to access the right support, in the right place, at the right time.

As this inquiry continues, we urge the Government to listen to those with lived experience and commit to the systemic change needed.

Our full response is available to view here: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/142282/pdf/.