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Creating Better Futures
Turning more than a decade of frontline experience into testable public policy — a proposal to close the Coordination Gap for autistic and neurodivergent people, their families, and the services that support them.
The Challenge
After more than a decade working directly with autistic and neurodivergent people, families, schools, employers, DWP, health and social-care professionals, BEC has reached a clear conclusion: Britain does not lack expertise, research or committed services. Too often, the weakness lies at the interfaces between them.
People can experience fragmented pathways across education, SEND, health, employment, social care and community support. Each organisation may be fulfilling its own remit, yet the burden of joining those parts together can fall back on the individual or family. BEC describes this as the Coordination Gap.
What BEC Brings from Practice
The BEC Proposition
BEC proposes testing a coordinating and translational function that connects existing expertise without taking over statutory, clinical, educational or employment responsibilities. BEC's role is analogous to a conductor: helping the different parts of the system work from a shared understanding and towards agreed outcomes, while responsibility remains with the organisations and individuals authorised to make decisions.
The proposed BEC Institute for Public Policy, Research & Innovation would provide the research, evaluation and policy infrastructure. The Capability & Opportunity Bureau (COB) is a separate proposed digital and professional system that could progressively support navigation, evidence access, opportunity matching and coordination.
Four Distinctive Propositions
The Coordination Gap
Existing expertise can be individually effective yet collectively fragmented.
Capability is not the same as sustainable capacity
A person may be able to perform a task while cumulative executive, sensory, social or environmental demands make that performance unsustainable over time.
Employment entry is not the final outcome
Success should include appropriate fit, wellbeing, progression and sustainability.
Practice should generate research questions
Lived and delivery experience can identify important questions, but independent research and evaluation must determine what is transferable.
From Leicester Demonstrator to National Learning
Why Leicester? Leicester combines the research capability, public-service expertise and community diversity needed to test this approach in the real world.
| Leicester has | The opportunity is to |
|---|---|
| University and research capability | Create a real-world translational research environment |
| NHS and public-service expertise | Test cross-sector coordination around the individual |
| Exceptional community diversity | Evaluate approaches across different communities |
| Employers, schools, colleges and VCSE | Create pathways into sustainable participation |
| A strong place-based network | Generate evidence capable of informing wider policy |
What Should Be Tested First?
Sustainable Neurodivergent Employment
Capability & Opportunity Bureau (COB)
Responsible AI: The Longer-Term Opportunity
Version 2.0 proposes a deliberately bounded approach to AI. The COB is not proposed as a diagnostic, clinical or emergency mental-health service. AI should support navigation, continuity and professional decision-making; it should not remove human responsibility.
Evidence Before Scale
What BEC Is Seeking Now
We are not seeking funding or asking Government to adopt an untested model. We are seeking challenge, policy dialogue, academic collaboration and the opportunity to test whether this approach adds measurable value without duplicating existing services.
Test the Problem
Does the Coordination Gap reflect current policy and operational experience?
Test the Questions
Which practice-derived propositions merit rigorous independent research?
Test the Fit
Could the Leicester demonstrators complement existing programmes without duplication?
Let's Start the Conversation
If you work in policy, academia, public services or funding and want to challenge or contribute to this thinking, we'd like to hear from you.
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