Christine McGuiness slams Kent councillors after they said asking for support was ‘in thing to do’

Model and presenter Christine McGuiness has slammed derogatory comments by councillors in Kent who have accused parents with disabled children of wanting support ‘because it’s the “in” thing to do’.

A shocking film in which Kent County Councillors are recorded making disparaging remarks, has gone viral, with hundreds of thousands of views on Instagram. 

Incensed parents across the country are now organising a protest outside parliament next month against the ‘broken’ special educational needs system. Within just 24 hours, 6,000 angry parents had signed a petition.

The viral reel shows Conservative Councillor for Maidstone Simon Webb claiming parents are only applying for an educational health and care plans (EHCP) to support their children at school ‘because it’s the ‘in’ thing to do’.

‘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?’

MailOnline has approached Kent County Council for comment.  

The councillor’s comments were made at the SEND sub committee meeting on March 22nd.

Conservative Councillor for Tonbridge and Malling Sarah Hudson also claimed that parents are deliberately choosing not to transport their children to school. She is seen saying: ‘There are families who have never, even once, 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 are deliberately choosing that route because they see all the add-ons that go with it and they think, ‘This is bloody good. Let’s go for it.’

The viral Instagram reels caught the attention of Christine McGuiness whose three children Leo, Penelope and Felicity are autistic. 

Conservative Kent County Councillor Simon Webb was seen in a SEND Sub-Committee meeting on March 22nd saying parents are only applying for an educational health and care plans (EHCP) to support their children at school ‘because it’s the ‘in’ thing to do’.

She wrote: ‘The “in thing” wow!!! Obviously no one with personal experience, the heartache, the endless hours of applying for an EHCP in that room. Sadly we still have a long way to go in changing the system and the world bur for everyone in the comments never give up, never stop fighting for what our children need and deserve.’

The protest in London is being organised by a group of mums including Lisa Lloyd, 39, from Aylesford, North Kent. Her two children Finley, 9 and Poppy, 6 are both autistic and have EHCPs. But Lisa says discrimination against SEN parents is not new.

She said: ‘I am mum to two autistic children living in Kent, I have first-hand knowledge of how hard it is to get an EHCP.

‘It is no secret that Kent County Council have been in the spotlight before for precious SEN issues however the viewing of the recent SEN sub committee meeting was nothing short of disgusting and has caused an outrage amongst parents not only from Kent but across the country.

‘The video shows KCC committee members suggesting a legal document to support our disabled child’s needs is some kind of trend and that parents don’t work and are deliberately applying for transport for all they can get.

‘One of the councillors has asked who is gate keeping the EHCPs being issued? Proving that the councillors making decisions on our children’s futures actually have very little knowledge of the EHCP process and are continuing to make it even more difficult for families to get EHCPs for children who desperately need it.’

Lisa was moved to organise the protest after becoming aware of the video and sharing it on her Instagram asd_with_a_g_and_t with her 31,000 followers. It was viewed more than 155,000 times on Lisa’s account alone.

The viral Instagram reels caught the attention of Christine McGuiness whose three children Leo, Penelope and Felicity are autistic; she has since been also diagnosed with autism

An ‘apology’ email from one of the councillors in question, Simon Webb, has only made things worse.

Lisa said: ‘In his ‘apology’ he asked some very concerning questions such as ‘if an EHCP is in place and working, should the target be adjusted, should the support be reduced?’ The parents who read this are extremely angry. We have fought for years to get our children the support they deserve and for it to possibly be taken away when it’s working, is appalling.

‘This video has now caused a movement within a very large community of parents of disabled children as we have had enough. We have fought for diagnosis, for inclusion, for EHCPs, for understanding and now we fight for our child’s right to an education.

‘This is now bigger than Kent, this is happening across the UK but KCC threw the first stone.

‘Parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, friends, teachers are now uniting to protest on the 21st June at the Houses of Parliament to say Enough is Enough. We are protesting for more SEN schools, for more EHCPs to be issued, for more funding for our disabled children and for our children’s futures.

‘The more people attending, the more we can pull focus on to the plight of children with disabilities to show the government we need real change and to show the archaic and discriminatory mindset, shown by KCC cannot become the basis for nationwide policies.’

Sarah Williams, 40, from Dorset is mum to Lillian-louvain, four, and is helping organise the protest. She runs an SEN Instagram account littlemiss_happyfeet. Lillian has autism, Pica, hypermobility and global development delay.

Lisa Lloyd, 39, from Aylesford, North Kent pictured with her two children Finley, 9 and Poppy, 6, who are both autistic and have EHCPs. She said: ‘This video has now caused a movement within a very large community of parents of disabled children as we have had enough.’

She said: ‘The reason we are doing this protest is because the whole system is broken and not fit for our children. If your child has SEN, they are deserving of an EHCP, deserving of a specialist school and deserving of 1:1 care and support that they need to thrive in life. The whole system needs looking at, re-writing and changing. Something needs to change and it needs to change now.’

Kent families are calling for the councillors to be sacked. Rio Tweddie, 29, is mum to six-year-old Zac who has autism and is non-verbal, will be attending the protest. Zac attends a school in Medway, Kent.

She said: ‘The EHCP process is horrific, mentally and emotionally draining. You’re not given a second to mourn the life you thought you’d have, you’re automatically up for a battle with trying to explain via writing how your life is with a child of additional needs. You’re asked for evidence after evidence that is questioned as though you’re not being truthful.

‘The SEN world is over looked, under funded and our kids are left to accept the scraps. They’re left to drown in an endless sea. To be told you are applying for an EHCP because it’s the ‘in thing’, you only do it for the benefits, you’re choosing this life, it’s your parenting,’ is appalling.

Sarah Williams with her daughter Lillian-louvain, four. Lillian has autism, Pica, hypermobility and global development delay

‘I am attending the protest because I will want to fight for Zac. What he gets is so limited, there is so much more support they could give, things could be much better. If Zac can’t fight for himself I’m here to do it. I’m attending to show my support. This isn’t just a few disgruntled parents, this is thousands and thousands of us.’

Zoe Relf, 49, lives in Ashford and runs a support group for parents in Kent. Her daughter Ellie, 12 is autistic, dyslexic and has complex needs.

She said: ‘I have been in the system for over five years under KCC and experienced many of their educational failures over the years. I have been to three tribunals against KCC. I also had an LGO (Local Government Ombudsman) case upheld last year.

‘The comments by KCC show pure ignorance from the councillors and show they don’t understand the system – children are often travelling to schools miles away and crossing boundaries.

‘These are highly vulnerable children and they are being failed. The KCC comments are stereotyping parents and blaming parents. We don’t work, we’re lazy…’ The remarks are disgusting.

‘I will attend the march next month. This is a national crisis, this isn’t just Kent this is throughout the country.

‘Parents are frustrated and angry and will not be ignored any longer.’

Karen Lynne, 46, lives in Thanet and has a child with SEN.

Rio Tweddie, 29, from the Medway in Kent, is mum to six-year-old Zac who has autism and is non-verbal – she says she will be attending the protest

She said: ‘Sadly, I am not surprised by the comments made by Kent County Council at their meeting recently – they have a history of not listening to parents and carers and of making sweeping, derogatory statements about them.

‘Trust between parents/carers and Kent County Council is at an all-time low, and I didn’t think it could get much lower. They failed their SEND inspection and they have been issued with an Improvement Notice. It is only a year ago that a bodged shake-up of the home-to-school transport provision resulted in hundreds of disabled children not being able to get to school – all because of KCC’s incompetence.

Five years ago, I attended a meeting with representatives from KCC and several other parents of children with SEND. We told them our stories of how KCC had failed our children. KCC promised that they had listened and that they would improve their services. Unfortunately, things only seem to be worse.

‘Parents and carers are tired. Tired of telling KCC time and time again that they are not being listened to and that things need to change.

Zoe Relf’s daughter Ellie, 12, pictured, is autistic, dyslexic and has complex needs. Mum Zoe says she’s experienced ‘many of their [Kent County Council] educational failures over the years’

‘Parents and carers are also angry. We’re not going to put up with it any longer.’

Stephen Kingdom, Campaign Manager for the Disabled Children’s Partnership – a coalition of 100 charities campaigning for improved health and social care for disabled children, young people and their families – said:

‘To suggest that parents or carers would apply for an EHCP as part of a trend is hugely insulting and shows an ignorance of the enormous pressures these families are under in parenting their children and accessing support in a national system that is in crisis.

‘Families require an EHCP to access services to which their children are legally entitled, without one children with disabilities and proven neurodivergent conditions are not given the support they need to thrive in school and life.

‘The process of securing an EHCP is already more fraught, bureaucratic and adversarial than it should be under the Children and Families Act 2014 and even with that paperwork, support is often not given.

‘Kent has an extremely poor record in this area. Two consecutive OfSted and Care Quality Commission Reports in 2019 and 2022 slammed the County Council for failing in its duty to provide education to students with special educational needs. These councillors must at the very least apologise to families.’

The protest will take place at Parliament Gardens on June 21 between 11-3pm. Thousands of SEN parents are expected to attend.