Fury as special needs care plans branded the ‘in thing’
Parents of children with special education needs are demanding councillors be sacked over “derogatory” comments made during a council meeting.
Kent PACT, a parent carer forum set up for parents of children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs, is demanding a formal apology to its families and is refusing to attend any future meetings until the issue is resolved. During a SEND sub-scrutiny meeting, Tory councillor for Maidstone Simon Webb sparked outrage with his comments suggesting having an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) was the “in thing”. “Where are the gatekeepers?” he said. “If I am a parent who thinks that their child needs an EHCP, because that’s the in thing to do as a parent these
days, who is going to turn around and say no?”
He also asked how other councils managed to restrict the numbers of EHCPs in their areas and suggested Kent do the same.
Later in the debate, at County Hall, Tory councillor for Tonbridge and Malling Sarah Hudson suggested some parents only apply for the provision because of extra benefits.
She said: “There are families who have never taken their own child to school because the state pays for a cab to take them, even though it might only be just up the road and they are perfectly capable of doing it themselves because neither of them work.
“They think, ‘This is b ***** good. Let’s go for it.’” A spokesman forKentPACT said it was “shocked and disgusted” at the comments. Labour councillor Emma Ben Moussa, who lives in Swanscombe with her seven year-old-son, said: “Thanks to the council, parents are forced to fight for education for their SEND children and with men like that making the decisions I can see why it is in a complete mess. He should be ashamed of inciting hate towards disabled children and their parents.” Emma Dalmayne, who runs a group called Autistic Inclusive Meets, said trying to secure an
EHCP is not an easy option. She said: “The remarks from the two members were not only incredibly ignorant, they were also disgustingly presumptuous and ableist. Parents have to fight for everything for their disabled children.
“For our children to be given basic accommodations to enable them to access an education we need an EHCP, we need transport and we need accommodations to be made. These things are not luxuries they are necessities.”
Cllr Hudson and Cllr Webb did not comment.