With reference to your article ‘Autism restraint ruling prompts call for police training’ – just because the Met got it wrong, this doesn’t mean all forces are the same.
I am a retired police inspector with a 29-year-old son with autism, so I can see things from both perspectives. I provide advice to individuals with autism and criminal justice professionals, and have been working to address this issue nationally.
I contributed to a report by Birmingham City Council called Adults with Autism and the Criminal Justice System, the content of which applies equally to young people and I recommend be read.
As well as training other agencies, such as youth offending teams, I am advising the National Autism Programme Board on the issues within the criminal justice system.
I have also created simple advice documents freely available for download on the Autism West Midlands website, and I provided advice for police officers in their federation magazine in 2010.
But it is obvious that not every officer has taken any notice.
Nigel Archer, criminal justice sector development co-ordinator, Autism West Midlands
Childminder rethink is required
Childminders are united in their concerns about plans to change ratios. We do not want to risk outcomes for children by squeezing more into ever-smaller rooms, looked after by fewer adults. And we do not want our sustainability threatened by settings all increasing the number of children they care for per adult.
Petitions against changes to ratios have raised more than 60,000 signatures to date.
But the far bigger threat to our future sustainability and quality of provision has come from childcare minister Elizabeth Truss’s determination to push childminder agencies through without listening to the views of those who will be affected.
Truss says she has consulted – but the only groups she has mentioned have stated publicly that they are against her plans. She also says she wants to meet childminders to discuss agencies, but only those who are pro-agencies are invited to meetings.
Childminders are dedicated to protecting our youngest and most vulnerable children. We want to continue offering the highest level of care and education. We do not want to be pawns in a political game. We ask the government to think again about its plans.
Sarah Neville, Knutsford Childminding
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