2021 APPGA Annual General Meeting
On 26 April, the APPGA’s Annual General Meeting took place online via Microsoft Teams. AGMs are different to the rest of the meetings held by the APPGA. They take place once a year and their primary purpose is to elect office bearers and to approve the Group’s income and expenditure statement.
The meeting was an important opportunity to give thanks and pay tribute to the late Dame Cheryl Gillan MP, Chair of the APPGA, and long-standing advocate for autistic people and their families. APPGA Members shared their own tributes, reflecting on Dame Cheryl’s friendship, determination, mentorship.
The group elected Dame Cheryl’s friend and colleague Huw Merriman MP to the position of Chair. We are delighted to have such an experienced and dedicated parliamentarian to continue Dame Cheryl’s legacy of improving support for autistic people, and understanding about autism. You can find further information on who was elected in the minutes of the meeting.
The next meeting of the APPGA will be to review the upcoming Autism Strategy (publication anticipated May 2021).
2021 Meeting on the impact of coronavirus
On 14 January 2021, we held a meeting of the APPG on Autism focussing on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on autistic people and their families.
While the pandemic has affected the everyday lives of people across the country, we know it has had a disproportionate and devastating impact on the mental health, wellbeing and education prospects of hundreds of thousands of autistic people and their families. This was highlighted in our recent Left Stranded report, which was published in partnership with four other leading autism organisations - Ambitious about Autism, Autistica, Scottish Autism, and the Autism Alliance.
The APPGA held this meeting to explore these issues further, and to hear from the Minister for Social Care Helen Whately about what action the Government is taking to address them as we continue through another national lockdown and ahead of the publication of the new national autism strategy. Our Director of External Affairs and Social Change, Jane Harris, presented findings from the Left Stranded report, and Kiri-Lynn Gardner, an autistic adult with an autistic teenage son, talked about the challenges she has faced during the pandemic. The Minister also took part in a Q&A session.
We were delighted that over 100 people attended, including a number of Parliamentarians. You can read the minutes of the meeting here.
2019 APPGA Annual General Meeting
On 29 October, the APPGA’s Annual General Meeting took place in Parliament. These meetings are different to the rest of the meetings held by the APPGA. They take place once a year and their primary purpose is to elect office bearers - you can find further information on who was elected in the minutes of the meeting – and to approve the Group’s income and expenditure statement.
The meeting was a great opportunity to take stock of the work the APPGA has carried out over the past year, specifically the inquiry into the Autism Act and the subsequent The Autism Act, 10 Years On report. This report outlines what the next Government must include in the review of the national autism strategy to improve the lives of autistic people and their families.
Once Parliament returns in December following the General Election, we will be reconstituting the Group as quickly as possible so that we can focus on ensuring that the next Government’s review of the national autism strategy reflects the report’s recommendations.
2018 APPGA Annual General Meeting
On 18 October, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the APPGA took place at Westminster. These meetings are different to the rest of the meetings held by the APPGA. They take place once a year and the primary purpose of them is to elect office bearers - you can find further information on who was elected in the minutes of the meeting – and to approve the Group’s income and expenditure statement. Having fulfilled both of these requirements, the APPGA is now reconstituted and we can look forward to another busy year of work for the Group.
The big piece of work that we hope the APPGA will carry out in the next year is a project to mark the 10-year anniversary of the introduction of the Autism Act, which our former Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Sarah Lambert, talked about at the meeting. We believe that this is a key opportunity to look at what has changed 10 years on, to restate the importance of the Act to make sure duties are being followed, but also to campaign for further changes. You can read more about this in the minutes.
APPGA Meeting on Mental Health, July 10
This public APPGA meeting was held to discuss mental health services for autistic people in England, including NHS England’s proposal in the Five Year Forward View on Mental Health, to develop a care pathway for autistic people. The meeting was chaired by Rt Hon Cheryl Gillan MP and included contributions from a range of speakers, including the Minister for Care, Caroline Dinenage MP and an NHS representative. At the end of the meeting, people who had remaining questions were asked to send them to the APPGA. We have collated these questions and will send them to the Minister. We will put a response here when it is received.
'Autism and Education in England –Parliamentary Launch' January, 2018
The APPGA launched its new report on education with the Secretary of State for Education in Parliament. Over 20,000 people also signed an open launched by the National Autistic Society and Ambitious about Autism calling for a new national autism and education strategy which was handed over to the Secretary of State at the end of the meeting.
APPGA Education Inquiry
The APPGA teamed up with the APPGLD to explore the outcomes of a recent Government taskforce on apprentices, autism and learning disability. The meeting was addressed by the Minister for Apprentices, Anne Milton MP. This was part of the APPGA’s continuing campaign on autism and employment.
- ‘APPGA Education Inquiry Session 3’, 18 July, 2017.
- ‘AGM and APPGA Education Inquiry Session 2’, 11 July, 2017
- ‘APPGA Education Inquiry Session 1’, 18 April, 2017
The APPGA ran an inquiry into education for children on the autism spectrum in England. The inquiry is chaired jointly by APPGA Members, Huw Merriman MP and Maria Caulfield MP.
‘Disability Employment Gap’, Joint meeting with other All Party Groups, 31 January, 2017.
The APPGA teamed up with six other All Party Groups in order to have a public meeting on the Government’s ‘Work, health and disability: improving lives’ Green Paper. The meeting was addressed by the then Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, the Rt Hon Damian Green MP. You can find out more about information about the Green Paper on the Government's website.
‘APPGA Public Consultation Event’, 14 November 2016.
The APPGA’s Advisory Group regularly runs consultations to see what subjects Parliamentarians should prioritise.
‘Autism Diagnosis Waiting Times’, 12 April 2016.
Following The National Autistic Society’s successful Diagnosis Crisis campaign, a public meeting with over 100 attendees was held with the then Minister for Care, Alistair Burt MP was held.
