- House of Lords Committee on the Autism Act 2009 publishes report ‘Time to Deliver’ and supports Autism Action’s findings that outcomes for autistic people have not improved
- 5,000 people in Autism Action’s Community gave feedback – the committee itself received more responses than any other House of Lords Inquiry
- A pivotal new year lies ahead for the autistic community and their supporters as a new autism strategy is due by July 2026
Tom Purser, CEO of Autism Action, said:
“We’re now at a watershed moment for the autism community and we welcome this report, which confirms 15 years of failure under the Autism Act of 2009. Over 5,000 autistic people and their supporters gave us their feedback and we were able to take these views in one single report to the House of Lords committee, with every one of our recommendations being taken on board. These included calls for involving autistic people and their advocates in the design and delivery of services at every stage; “nothing about us, without us”. And gathering better data about autistic people with or without a learning disability, so that we can understand where policies need to change.
“Our awareness about autism as a society has transformed since the Act came into force in 2009, but it’s not been enough and a dangerous ‘over diagnosis’ narrative means the stakes are now too high. Autistic people are five times more likely to die by suicide 1, and our own research tells us that an embedded culture of misunderstanding along with an exhaustive list of barriers to services are major factors in why autistic people are more likely to take their own lives.
“The new autism strategy due by July 2026 must be in line with the committee’s recommendations, so it’s now vital that the autism community makes itself heard; to let the Government know that enough is enough. We’ll do everything we can to support and empower as many people as possible to get that message across. It’s ‘Time to Deliver’ and we’ll be waiting for the Government to listen and do just that in its response to this report.”
For more information, interview requests with Tom, or for background briefings, please email media@autismaction.org.uk
