People across Liverpool are being encouraged to have their say on a new neurodivergent strategy for the city.
The Liverpool Neurodivergent All-Age Strategy, 2025-2030, has been co-produced by the Liverpool Neurodiversity Strategic Partnership, and represents 18 months of development. And now all stakeholders who live, work or study in Liverpool are invited to give feedback during an eight-week consultation.
The consultation was officially launched at a city centre event on Wednesday as part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week. The draft strategy and survey is now available on Liverpool City Council’s website and will be open until Wednesday 14 May.
Feedback from the consultation will be used to further develop the strategy that will then inform future improvements to services for neurodivergent people and their families.
It is planned that the final strategy will be presented to the city’s Health and Wellbeing Board in September.
It is thought that one in seven people in the UK is neurodivergent, equating to about 69,200 people in Liverpool, although this is likely to be much higher due to under diagnosis.
The strategy’s vision is:
To create a society that recognises, understands, and embraces neurodiversity, making Liverpool a great place to live, study, work and visit.
Neurodivergent people are enabled to live a longer, happier, healthier, fulfilled life and reach their full potential.
The strategy contains five ambitions:
- Celebrating neurodiversity
- Early intervention, assessment, diagnosis and support
- Accessible health and care services
- Right to a fulfilling life
- Working differently.
Respondents are encouraged to share how neurodiversity impacts positively on their life and are also offered the opportunity to become involved in the strategy’s future development and delivery.
The Liverpool Neurodiversity Strategic Partnership brings together representatives from the council, the NHS, education, researchers, and the community, voluntary and social enterprise sector, as well as neurodivergent people, their families and carers.
Cllr Angela Coleman, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services, said: “The proposed Liverpool Neurodivergent All-Age Strategy represents many months of hard work from the Strategic Partnership, and they can be proud that they have developed a document that can potentially have a truly transformative effect on thousands of lives in our city.
“We’re now really excited to hear what the city thinks and we’re encouraging everyone with lived experience or an understanding of neurodivergence to share their feedback to ensure that the strategy becomes a truly meaningful future tool for the city’s decision makers.
“By sharing your experiences of neurodivergence you will not only be helping to improve services you will also be helping us to understand how neurodivergent people enrich our city.”
Anthony Leo, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside’s Interim Place Director for Liverpool, said: “We want neurodivergent people in Liverpool to have access to early support and services that meet their needs and help them to reach their full potential.
“This strategy represents an important step in making that vision a reality in line with work being undertaken across Cheshire and Merseyside to improve our approach to neurodiversity and I’d encourage everyone with lived experience to share their feedback and play an important role in improving the lives of thousands of people in our city.”
