Meetings

The Committee agreed to close the petition, given the previous satisfaction expressed by the petitioner and the fact that no further responses have recently been received.

The Committee considered correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and agreed to await the views of the petitioner on the information provided by the Cabinet Secretary before deciding whether to take further action on the petition.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Education, enclosing the comments received from the National Autistic Society, and ask whether it is the Welsh Government’s intention for autism to be included as a requirement within the new programme of Initial Teacher Education from 2019.

Neil McEvoy declared the following relevant interest under Standing Order 17.24A:

The petitioner is known to him.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

• await the petitioner’s views on the detailed responses received from the Welsh Government; and
• seek the view of The National Autistic Society on the issues raised by the petition.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Education to ask whether the Government intends to address the issues of autism in teacher training through the forthcoming Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal Bill, and the planned timetable for this.