North Wales autism charities closing, MS warns First Minister
Voluntary sector organisations providing key services to disabled and autistic children and their families in north Wales are either closing or shrinking, and the Conservative MS for the region says he is hearing about it almost every day.
Mark Isherwood MS raised the issue at the final scrutiny session of the Sixth Senedd on Friday, pressing First Minister Eluned Morgan on what he described as a gap between what the Welsh Government says and what communities are experiencing on the ground.
“I’m being contacted virtually daily now by voluntary sector organisations delivering key services to disabled and autistic children and their families that are either closing or having to shrink their services,” Mr Isherwood told the committee.
“These are charities that survived the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, and the previous decades when we’ve had all sorts of problems thrown at us. Yet, now, they’re having to shrink their services or close.”
Mr Isherwood, joining the session by video link from Flintshire, said the closures were working against the Government’s own emphasis on early intervention and prevention, with the voluntary sector’s retreat adding “extra pressure on secondary care” at a time when the NHS in north Wales is already managing backlogs.
He asked the First Minister how she responded to the claim, put to him consistently by organisations contacting him, that there was “a disparity between what the Welsh Government says and what it delivers.”
Nick Wood, deputy chief executive of NHS Wales, acknowledged that access to services in north Wales for children with mental health needs and autism had “gradually improved over the last 12, 18 months,” but confirmed a specific failure.
A provider contracted at the start of this year to deliver 500 appointments for those who had waited the longest had been unable to fulfil the contract.
“The health board is now looking to other providers to seek to remove the backlog there,” Mr Wood said. “It’s still too long.”
Mr Isherwood had raised the voluntary sector closures alongside a broader chalenge to the First Minister on NHS sustainability in north Wales, primary care funding and community bed levels. He asked how she responded to the consistent message from people contacting him that there was a fundamental mismatch between Government rhetoric and ground-level delivery.
The First Minister defended the Government’s record, pointing to increased investment in primary care, the roll-out of in-school mental health support, and the introduction of a social prescribing framework. On the autism question specifically, she was direct.
“I think that there is clarity within Government of the difference between mental health issues and autism, and we need to tailor support differently and appropriately for the individual,” Ms Morgan said.
The session also marked a cross-party moment.
Ms Morgan praised Mr Isherwood’s role in steering British Sign Language legislation through the Senedd this week, which she described as a significant step for BSL users seeking routes into employment.
“Your leadership on this has been wonderful,” she said. “It was great to see the response of the people in the Chamber.”
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