Payments to the National Autistic Society: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/18/00452
Date received: 9 February 2018
Date responded: 9 March 2018

Information requested

'How much money does the Scottish Government given annually to: NAS Scotland, Central Chambers, 1st Floor, 109 Hope Street, Glasgow; and, How much money does the Scottish Government given annually to: The National Autistic Society, 393 City Road, London.

Could I have a breakdown of what the monies are actually intended for? Can I also ask how much money has been given to both: NAS Scotland, Central Chambers, 1st Floor, 109 Hope Street, Glasgow; And, The National Autistic Society, 393 City Road, London over the last 5 years, and again a breakdown of what these monies were intended for.'

Response

I enclose a copy of all of the information you requested. The below table details payments that have been made since the financial year 2013/14 to either The National Autistic Society London or NAS Scotland. Below the table you will find details of why these payments were made.

	PROJECT NAME	FINANCIAL YEAR	AMOUNT PAID
1	Graduate support project	2013/14	£49,991.47
2	Short breaks project	2013/14	£22,608.00
3	Transitions project	2013/14	£66,172.00
4	Allocation of additional funds to different projects	2014/15	£61,615.00
5	Graduate support project	2014/15	£49,882.85
6	Transitions project	2014/15	£66,304.00
7	Working with Autism – Prospect for Employment project	2014/15	£29,658.21
8	Coffee Clubs project	2015/16	£10,889.00
9	Connectors project	2015/16	£19,666.42
10	One Stop Shops	2015/16	£153,305.00
11	European Autism Congress	2016/17	£6,900.00
12	Coffee Clubs project	2017/18	£15,734.00
13	Moving Forward with Cash Back programme	2017/18	£37,213.00
14	Moving Forward with Cash Back programme	2017/18	£44,307.00
15	Working with Autism – Prospect for Employment project	2017/18	£48.69
16	HR support and training	2013/14-2017/18	£11,346.00

Payments 1 and 5 were made from the Scottish Strategy for Autism to support a project aimed at enabling more autistic graduates to enter employment commensurate with their academic achievements. The project's activity included engagement with private sector employers, pre-placement training for graduates and job search activity.

Payment 2 was made from the Scottish Strategy for Autism's development fund for a project to develop break and respite opportunities for autistic children and young people. The project sought to identify and make use of low arousal and suitable venues within local communities to deliver sport, play or leisure opportunities.

Payments 3 and 6 were made from the Scottish Strategy for Autism's development fund to support a project on transitions. This project aimed to develop good practice transition guidance in order to support the lifelong challenges autistic people face as they make daily and life-stage transitions. The project aimed to work with schools in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire to support pupils to access a number of transitions modules. The project's outcomes included facilitating greater participation in local communities and ensuring the pupils were better understood by the professionals who support them.

Payment 4 is a cumulative figure and represents a number of payments made from the Scottish Strategy for Autism's development fund to various projects. During the financial year 2014/15, in light of financial capacity, organisations were invited to apply for additional short-term strategy funding of up to £50,000 to allow them to enhance the support they provided to autistic people and their families and carers. Projects supported through this payment included the already-mentioned projects on transitions and short-breaks. Other projects supported included NASCafe social groups, which gave autistic adults an opportunity to spend time together and learn new social skills, and a gardening project to support health and wellbeing. No individual project received a payment in excess of £50,000.

Payments 7 and 15 were made towards the Working with Autism – Prospects for Employment project, which took place during 2010/11 and was part-funded by the 2007-13 European Social Fund programme. The project provided employability support to those with an Autism Spectrum Disorder through support including personal development, work preparation and job search.

Payment 8 and 12 were made from the Scottish Strategy for Autism's development fund to support the Coffee Clubs project – a supportive peer network of people who met regularly. The project also had 'Job Search' groups A women and girls groups has also been established following recognition that groups are attended by mostly men. Payment 9 was made from the Scottish Strategy for Autism's development fund to the 'Connecters' project, to develop a software application for autistic people to join, manager their membership of NAS social clubs, monitor their own budget, and measure outcomes against personal goals and targets.

Payment 10 is a total figure paid from the Scottish Strategy for Autism to the NAS One Stop Shops in Aberdeen and Kilmarnock during the financial year 2015/16. The One Stop Shop service provided support to autistic people to access services, guidance to overcome barriers, and group activities for families and professionals. Payment 11 was made to fund a space at the European Autism Congress to hold a marketplace and deliver a plenary session on the work of the Scottish Strategy for Autism.

Payments 13 and 14 were made for the Moving Forward with Cash Back programme, which is an eight-week work placement and ten-week job search support for young autistic people from areas of deprivation who are furthest from the workforce. As well as providing intensive one-to-one mentoring and group work and preparation for employment, the programme will provide follow-up support to sustain positive destinations.

Payment 16 is a total figure paid to NAS for HR services and support provided to the Scottish Government over the last five years, including training in autism.

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