FASD Awareness Month is ending.
The cost of inaction is not.
This month we set out what FASD is projected to cost Peterborough and Cambridgeshire: 449 young people in a single year group, £190 million over their lifetimes, £29 million of it unplanned spend that identification would remove. Around 288 children in care who may have FASD. About 6,200 children across the two areas, on our own JSNA's assumption.
What we are asking for:
1. A named FASD lead in each council and in the ICB.
2. An accessible local diagnostic and post-diagnosis pathway, built on NICE Quality Standard QS204 (2022) and SIGN 156 (2019), whose approach NICE has accepted.
3. FASD awareness in the training offer for schools, social care, kinship carers, midwifery and anyone else who works with vulnerable children, young people and adults.
4. Routine enquiry about, and recording of, prenatal alcohol exposure in health assessments, care plans and pathway plans — which paragraph 44 of the looked-after children statutory guidance already expects.
5. A guarantee that FASD will be taken into consideration as our vulnerable children transition into adult life with the support that they need and are entitled to.
6. A commitment to embed FASD Awareness in policy and practice across the area so that there is a lasting legacy that doesn’t just fizzle out when staff move on or retire. It’s not just parents and carers who are asking to be treated fairly, in 2023 people with FASD were asked what they wanted, including people in our region, the results of what they said can be found in the UK FASD Manifesto.
Please have a look here - https://fasd.me/uk-fasd-manifesto/
Thank you to every family who shared, commented and messaged this month. If you are caring for someone with FASD, come and find us. www.facebook.com/groups/1320037864718272
#FASDGrowsUp #EveryonePlaysAPart #FASD #CentralEastICB #cambridgeshire #peterborough
These posts across September 2026 are only possible due the support of the National Organisation for FASD. In June 2026, the Charity published an in depth look at the cost of FASD in the UK. professional AI software was used to interrogate available national data so that a detailed report could be written about the impact of FASD to the UK.
That report can be found here. https://nationalfasd.org.uk/the-cost-of-inaction-on-fasd/
After a discussion about whether the same software could be used to drill down into locally available data and interesting set of information appeared for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough as well as another set for Hertfordshire where the National Organisation has its office. The following posts reflect the information gathered for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Please search my other posts / blogs throughout FASD Awareness month 2026 for a full picture of the current situation and needs in Peterborough & Cambridgeshire UK.
Brian Roberts
September 2026
