National Assembly for Wales

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Notes that it is over 40 years since the publication of the All-Wales Strategy, which aimed to remove autistic people and/or people with a learning disability from long-term hospital placements and support them to live in their local communities.

2. Regrets that in Wales, some autistic people and/or people with a learning disability are still being sectioned under the MHA or detained under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in secure hospital settings, which is inappropriate to their wellbeing and causes considerable longer-term trauma, as well as distress to themselves and their loved ones.

3. Believes that this continues to happen to autistic people and/or people with a learning disability because of a lack of support being available in their local areas, with sectioning in some circumstances being used as a default option by relevant authorities.

4. Calls on the Welsh Government to:

a) set out in detail how it will respond to the concerns and objectives of the Stolen Lives’ ‘Homes Not Hospitals’ campaign;

b) collect and publish accurate and up-to-date data on:

i) the number of autistic people and/or people with a learning disability in Wales who are placed in hospital settings;

ii) the type of such hospital placements e.g. mental health hospitals or assessment and treatment units;

iii) the providers of such hospital placements e.g. private, public or voluntary sector; and

iv) the number and nature of supported living or residential placement breakdowns resulting in hospital detention e.g. name of provider and type of provider; 

c) provide a progress update on the establishment of a dedicated Task and Finish Group to work with stakeholders to help address the issues and concerns that Stolen Lives have raised, and which fall within its devolved responsibilities; and

d) implement the recommendations of its 2020 National Care Review, which stated clearly that people should only stay in hospitals if there are no other ways to treat them safely.