London Borough of Bromley: All-Age Autism Board

The Bromley All-Age Autism Partnership (BAAP) brings together representatives including autistic individuals, parent and carer representatives, local authority professionals, and the voluntary sector to improve services and the pathways to support in Bromley, for autistic children, young people and adults. The work of the BAAP is overseen by the Bromley All-Age Autism Board (BAAB) which since 2022 has been chaired by Cllr Jonathan Andrews, a Councillor with lived experience of Autism. The All-Age Autism Board has been successful at bringing together those with lived experience, the voluntary sector and council services to influence positive change across the Borough. 

In 2009 the Autism Act was passed through Parliament, thanks to the dedication and hard work of many campaigners. Since then, there has been much progress made, but there is still a long way to go. The Autism Act: Ten Years On, published by the APPG for Autism, found that, despite the progress made as a consequence of the Autism Act (2009), two in three autistic adults still aren’t getting the support that they need. One in five need support to live independently, but just one in twenty get this support. There are also disparities in outcomes for autistic people compared to the population as a whole, such as the fact that just 22 per cent of autistic adults across the UK are in any kind of employment. 

Local authorities have statutory duties to commission care and support services for autistic people in their area. The London Borough of Bromley set up their Bromley All-Age Autism Board (BAAB) in 2018 in response to the government’s refreshed National Autism Strategy. Officers were keen to make sure that the Board was not only a ‘Top-Down’ initiative, but instead an opportunity for a shared investment in change and a forum to grow the voice of the Autistic Community across the borough

To make the board an effective and inclusive force for change, a two-pronged approach was used. The ‘top-down’ part was the buy-in of senior leaders to a co-produced approach to formulating the strategy, which would then feed into service provision. 

The ‘bottom-up’ approach involved bringing together autistic people from across the borough to feed into the strategy by sharing their needs and saying ‘from our lived experience, this is where the gaps are’. This meant that from the beginning, the Partnership Board ensured that services were improved in partnership with autistic people and their families. 

This approach resulted in the ‘Bromley All-Age Autism Strategy’ (the current strategy covering 2022 - 2027), which was co-produced with autistic people, and their families and carers. The strategy was launched in 2022 and overseen by the quarterly All-Age Autism Board meeting. When Councillor Jonathan Andrews was elected in 2022, the opportunity arose to have a Councillor with lived experience of Autism acting as Chair of the Board, bringing together 'top-down” leadership with “bottom-up” lived experience. 

The action plan to deliver this strategy is managed by the SEND and autism project ifficer, a post jointly commissioned by LBB and South East London Integrated Care Board (SEL ICB) The SEND and Autism Project Officer engages with and collates from autistic people throughout the Borough and presents this to the board in order to improve how services are run.

The five priorities in the action plan are:

• increasing awareness and understanding of Autism 
• building sustainable education placements
• supporting independence, building skills to employment 
• reducing health inequalities 
• the right support at the right time.

In addition to co-production with individuals with lived experience, charities are represented on the Board, and this gives them an opportunity to not only give their feedback but hear what different teams have been doing. Representatives from local services, such as education, are also represented, as are government departments such as the Department for Work and Pensions. 

This board has helped allow for greater engagement with the community and have created a central point for various charities that provide services and disability engagement within the Borough of Bromley. For example, the council commissions Bromley Mencap as the providers of specialist support for Autism, and works closely with CASPA, a local charity that is running a contract for activities for Autism Acceptance Week. Bromley Autism Promise is also another initiative that is raising awareness and training across services and businesses across Bromley. These are products of the collaboration that has existed from the board coming together. 

The board has champions in different departments that support it to influence various services in the council. The board reports into the local authority SEND governance board, One Bromley Executive Board, as well as the Integrated Commissioners Board, to encapsulate Health and Care Education. An example of the work includes looking at issues such as reducing waiting times on diagnostic processes. 

There is representation too from both specialist and mainstream schools on the board. School leader representatives are able to support in identifying trends across the partnership, which work with charities, parents and carers to identify gaps and trends across the partnership, that can then influence decisions regarding education across the Borough. 

The SEND and autism project officer also attends other Board meetings such as the Learning Disabilities and Partnership Board, to feed back to the All-Age Autism Board. The Learning Disabilities and Partnership Board is also co-chaired by someone with lived experience and is attended by self-advocacy and community groups. 

Having a chair with lived experience has increased the ability of the All-Age Autism Board to feed issues of priority into council meetings and use their influence to put issues directly onto the agenda of different council committees. For example a recent meeting of the scrutiny committee for children, education and families was able to influence the formation of a ‘deep dive’ into employment opportunities for disadvantaged young people, including autistic people. The cabinet member is welcoming and receptive of the experiences of the autistic young people in the borough, as collated through the board, and this ‘deep dive’ allowed consideration to be given at councillor level to the important issue of employment outcomes.

Subgroups have also formed - such as the Autistic Young Adults subgroup, and Autistic Parent and Carer subgroup. The work that comes out of these often creates an agenda item for relevant committees - using genuine lived experience to direct change. To create lasting change, projects typically follow on from the discussion to maximise impact. For example, recent feedback was given that there was a lack of social activities for autistic young people - this is now being taken forward as a project. 

The multi-agency All Age Autism Partnership Board has identity a shift in awareness of autism, with many more staff and members thinking about how they can contribute to improving outcomes for autistic people and are interested in participating in relevant projects. There is much change afoot, which is very exciting. 

The main barrier has been the time pressures of busy professionals and families and balancing competing responsibilities, as there is so much more to be done in this space. Sometimes this has meant that progress has been slower than we might have liked but there is real passion and drive from people to want to create change and despite work pressures, attendance at board remains strong and consistent.

Strong political leadership and support from officers across the council has been a key enabler, as it has meant there is a passion and enthusiasm to drive things forward and make them work.

When Cllr Andrews was elected, officers made sure he was aware of the opportunity to chair the board and worked with him to induct him into that role. As he grew up and went to school in the Borough, he is able to bring both lived experience and political leadership to the issues at hand.

Having priority leads from the action plan has been really effective at influencing change. For example, having a lead person on culture and regeneration means that when the Borough is looking at developing autism friendly spaces, that lead person can enable them to think differently about how the developments can be more inclusive for autistic people. 

Working in partnership with charities has also been very impactful, and their voice has been instrumental in being able to influence change. 

This approach, through the fact that it is driven by lived experience, is influencing policy and working closely with local charities, is being well-sustained for the future. It also has top-down buy-in from senior leaders and is seen as a valuable part of decision making. 

The experience in Bromley has been that a board like this is an excellent way of creating a bridge between the council and the neurodiverse community and promoting working in partnership with all of the respective charities and voluntary sector groups. 

Working to better understand autistic people, by listening to the voices of those with lived experience, delivering training and working directly with charities, all increases your impact and helps accelerate the change that you are trying to create. 

Ensuring that councillors with lived experience of special educational needs and/or disabilities are given the opportunity to lead effect change and contribute positively, creates a positive momentum and increases influence.

Ensuring that initiatives are not just top-down, but are led by the ground up; bringing together autistic people to influence change and to work directly with council services. So much of the success of this All-Age Autism Board was the groundwork that was done before the launch in building relationships with charities, listening to the people’s lived experiences, and ensuring strong representation from key stakeholders.

Above all, researching and engaging with people with lived experience of autism and ensuring their participation is the key to success.

• Cllr Jonathan Andrews: [email protected]
• Colette Shrimpton: [email protected]