In a discussion on Tuesday 15 July at Leicestershire County Council Cllr Michael Squires made comments about SEND schools that have been heavily criticised online. 

Cllr Squires described Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) schools being 'detrimental' to the 'independence and social skills of SEND children'.

This has received significant backlash online, with Leicestershire residents calling on the councillor and county council to issue an apology.

During a briefing about a report on SEN by Michelle White - proposing a new banded model for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) - Cllr Squires was called on to give his thoughts.

The proposal was to move towards a more flexible model for delivering support to children with EHCPs, moving away from the current model of delivery which was described as quite restrictive. The change hopes to give those offering classroom support more flexibility to adapt with the changing needs of the children. 

During the meeting, the chairperson called on Cllr Squires to second the motion to move to this more flexible banded model. However, during his explanation of why he believed the move to a banded model was needed, Cllr Squires made some comments that have since been deemed offensive by members of the public. 

Speaking in the meeting, Cllr Squires said: "A consultation for the transition to a banded model for EHCPs is in line with the current evidence-based model of offering needs-based, rather than diagnosis-based services.

"Consequently, an amendment to the needs descriptors and banding approaches can be used to accurately reflect the needs of each individual child and may reduce the need for some children, often unnecessarily and to their detriment, to Special Education Needs establishments. 

"This would allow schools to offer a more tailored, flexible and creative approach to the holistic well-being and education of children who are identified to have a Special Educational Need and may avoid situations where children can be over-supported in a classroom with multiple adults support children under EHCPs. That can be detrimental to their independence and social skills." 

Mother of a SEND child living in Leicestershire, Laura Badland, took to Facebook to share her offence at the words used by Cllr Squires, saying: "I am truly shocked to hear councillors using language that is offensive and frankly ignorant towards our SEND families. 

"To suggest that a child attending a Special Educational Needs Establishment is to the detriment of their development completely undermines the incredible work that the staff at those schools carry out to support the children. 

"It also perpetuated the stigma surrounding specialist schools and, for those parents whose children attend the schools, hearing language link this could cause immense distress. This statement is completely unfounded and false." 

"In addition," Laura continued, "to suggest that Leicestershire SEND children are 'over-supported' speaks to the clear lack of understanding that the councillor has relating to what life looks like for SEND families. 

"To go on to suggest that there are multiple adults supporting one child in a classroom is fantasy that I could only dream of. To suggest this adult support is 'detrimental to the independence and social skills' continues to highlight the total lack of knowledge and understanding that this councillor has on the issue." 

Laura ended her post calling on Cllr Squires and the County Council to apologise for the hurt and offense caused by the comments to herself and other Leicestershire SEND families. 

Cllr Squires responded to Laura's Facebook Post, saying "Sometimes, receiving correct support in a mainstream school is better than an SEN establishment. That is as evidenced by the needs-based approach rather than diagnosis-based approach. 

Comments between Cllr Squires and Laura Badlands on Facebook

"It is correct, the proposed change would benefit such children, there is nothing to apologise for." 

Cllr Squires and Ms Badland continued their exchange in multiple comments back and forth on Facebook with Cllr Squires adding fuel to the fire, saying: "I'm dismissing all of your concerns as it's plain nonsense." 

Speaking to Ashby Nub News, Laura described this comment as "truly disgusting.' 

Both Cllr Squires and Leicestershire County Council were approached to discuss this matter, and both have chosen not to provide a statement in response.