Clause 2
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
11:15 am
Angela Browning (Deputy Chairman (Organising and Campaigning), Conservative Party; Tiverton and Honiton, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 40, in clause 2, page 2, line 4, after ‘disability’, insert
‘or an autistic spectrum disorder’.
I am pleased to speak to the amendment, which is supported by my colleagues. The subject has been discussed in the pre-legislative scrutiny Committee and also in another place. The amendment seeks to add autistic spectrum disorders to those areas that have been modified to accommodate the needs of people with learning disabilities. The Minister and I have shared many a conversation about the matter. I am very grateful that she has agreed to discuss it again on Thursday privately.
I would like to use the opportunity of moving the amendment to clarify the reason why the issue is so important. I should begin by declaring my interest as the vice-president of the National Autistic Society. I also hold positions on other related autism charities.
The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that people with autistic spectrum disorders are recognised in the way that the amended Bill now recognises learning disability. I am familiar with the Government arguments, both in another place and elsewhere, about their reluctance to draw up a list of conditions that are exceptions to the rule. However, given the background on learning disability—its recognition in the Bill and the way in which it is dealt with in the 1983 Act, which I will mention in a moment—this is a special case.
I am sure that the Minister has heard a lot of special pleading from people who are concerned about a range of disabilities and believe that there is a case forthose to be recognised in a Bill, rather than ignored altogether or tucked into a code of practice. However, I want to make a case for making a special exception for autistic spectrum disorders. There are many reasons for that, not just because I have an interest in the subject.