Warwickshire councillors apologise for special needs comments

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Warwickshire councillors were discussing the rising cost of council support for children



Three Warwickshire councillors accused of making offensive comments about children with special educational needs have apologised.

The remarks included the claim some children were "just really badly behaved", and parents were swapping diagnosis tips on social media.

The council is investigating complaints about the comments made at a meeting about special needs support last month.

Warwickshire County Council said it "acknowledges the scale of the upset".

The three councillors at the centre of the controversy are Conservatives Jeff Morgan, Brian Hammersley and Clare Golby.

At a meeting about the rising cost of council support on 25 January, Mr Morgan had questioned whether some children receiving funding were "just really badly behaved."

Mr Hammersley asked if "something in the water" was increasing special needs cases, with Mrs Golby having questioned whether the increase could be linked to social media sites where families were "swapping tips on how to their children diagnosed."

The remarks prompted anger from parents, with the local authority confirming it had received a number of complaints following the meeting.

All three councillors have since apologised, with Mr Morgan saying he regretted "any offence caused by my choice of words.".

"It was never my intention to offend, and I regret the words I used to make a point about demand and need in the SEND area," he added.

Mr Hammersley said he was "terribly sorry" and wished to "apologise unreservedly for the comments".

"I regret my clumsiness and lack of care in choosing my words and can see the upset and offence they caused," he said.

Mrs Golby said she accepted the words used at the meeting "were open to interpretation".

"I have spent many years working hard to support children and families in the SEND community and it was never my intention to offend," she added.

"I apologise for any offence caused."

A council spokesperson added: "It is clear that these comments have caused significant offence, distress and upset to children and their families within the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) community."

"The council takes that very seriously."

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Mrs Golby having questioned whether the increase could be linked to social media sites where families were "swapping tips on how to their children diagnosed."

It's true though, if you're not claiming at least TWO benefits for each kid you must be doing something wrong?

[rebbonk]

Some kids are simply badly behaved, others lack parental responsibility! - But it's offensive to speak the truth? - B*ll*cks!

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Resignation call over special needs comments



An MP has called for the resignation of three Warwickshire councillors accused of making offensive comments about children with special educational needs and disability (SEND).

Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western [pictured] said their remarks were “disgraceful”.

Labour MP Mr Western wrote in a letter to Warwickshire County Council, external: "I am deeply concerned about several ignorant and insulting comments made by councillors Hammersley, Morgan and Golby."

He added the comments were "extremely concerning" and urged the council to take action over the matter.

"To hear what was said in those recordings exposes a complete failure to appreciate the scale of the problem and a total disrespect for the families involved and I think on this occasion they should resign,” Mr Western told the BBC.

“The public want to see some definite action because these parents are facing deep challenges, they are not getting their educational health care plans, it’s taking two years for those, they are not getting the diagnosis when they need them, they are at their wits end."

Mr Western also called on the local authority to host a meeting with the parents on children with special needs in the county to hear their concerns.

Ellie Costello, a co-ordinator with the SEND National Crisis campaign said she was "shocked" by the comments, which she described as "discriminatory, stigmatising, ill-informed at best and harmful at worst".

She said she thought the councillors should resign "because these are the people who are meant to be representatives of the children and families in their communities".

Within two days, 16,500 people have signed a petition calling for the councillors to be dismissed from their roles and for the local authority to launch a review into how funding is allocated for SEND provisions.

A parent carer group is planning to protest outside Shire Hall in Warwick before the county council votes on its annual budget on Thursday.

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Parents protest over special-needs-row councillors



Dozens of protesters have gathered at Warwickshire County Council headquarters after three councillors were accused of making offensive comments about children with special needs.

Holding placards, the campaigners stood outside Shire Hall ahead of a meeting to approve the county council's annual budget before gathering in the chamber gallery.

“As parents and carers, we’re all just a bit fed up of jumping through hoops and this week’s comments just tipped us over the edge,” said Abbie Mundy, a mum of two, one of whom is autistic.

“The language used was damaging and they really need to take responsibility for their words.

“As soon as I saw the video, I felt sick, it’s out of date and they need to be educated more on SEND, they are making these decisions but they know nothing about it.”

Another protester said the councillors’ comments “suggested that institutions back in the 1960s and 1970s were appropriate for children when they absolutely were not, they were barbaric”.

She added: “We are waiting for their resignations, they do not represent us, we will not stand for their discriminatory views any longer.”

A third commented: “What I heard broke me, it makes you question what else are they saying? I have a five year old with autism and he deserves better.”

The Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington, Matt Western, also weighed in on the row, blasting the remarks as “disgraceful”, and calling for Brian Hammersley, Jeff Morgan and Clare Golby - who were not at the meeting - to resign.

An online petition, which also calls for the politicians to be removed from their roles, amassed more than 22,000 signatures in fewer than three days.

Mr Hammersley told the BBC that a TikTok video that mixes his words with images depicting restrained children was "untrue" and a "total fabrication".

Selected comments from all three councillors were edited together in a video that was posted to the SEND Reform England account, which has more than 16,800 followers.

Audio from the clips continued as pictures cut away to black and white images depicting children in straitjackets, tied to radiators and preparing to be caned.

The video has been viewed more than 307,000 times on the channel alone, with users encouraged to “share this everywhere”.

A council-funded provider of autism awareness training courses in Warwickshire has offered to provide classes for the councillors to attend.

Tessa Morton, founder of Act for Autism, said “We’re not going to blame anybody for their ignorance. We’re going to help them understand.”

She said there are conferences coming up in the county this year.

Ms Morton said: “I would encourage, possibly invite those councillors to come to our conference. They are more than welcome to come, no charge. We’d love to see them there.”

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Ah, the inadequate snowflake parents are out.

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Councillors off committee after SEND remarks - leader



Three councillors accused of making offensive comments about children with special educational needs are “coming off” a committee, a council leader has said.

Despite the calls for them to step down, Warwickshire County Council's Tory leader Isobel Seccombe [pictured] said she would not be removing the whip “at this moment in time”.

She told BBC Politics Midlands that inquiries were being carried out and she was keen to hear “all voices”, confirming that hundreds of complaints have been received.

“I’m also going to add that they [the councillors] are coming off the scrutiny panel and I’m putting a programme in of training, development and education,” she said.

“I’m a believer that the way you try to engage people in your argument is by including them, engaging them, educating them. Excluding them – you would not win hearts and minds.”

She repeated the “heartfelt” apology from the authority and said what happened was not characteristic of her administration.

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Warwickshire County Council hires lawyer over councillors' special needs remarks



Warwickshire County Council has asked a lawyer to look into complaints against three councillors accused of making offensive comments about children with special educational needs.

The county council launched an investigation in January after receiving hundreds of complaints about the comments by councillors Jeff Morgan, Brian Hammersley and Clare Golby.

The investigation was initially being handled by the council's monitoring officer, who deals with complaints about councillors' conduct.

But in an update on the process, the council said it had appointed an independent external investigator because of the volume of complaints.

The council said Anthony Collins, a law firm based in Birmingham, would carry out the investigation on its behalf.

It will be led by Claire Ward, a solicitor and an expert in council governance who previously served as acting deputy chief executive at Herefordshire Council.

Ms Ward will examine "a representative sample" of complaints and invite the three councillors to respond.

The solicitor will then produce three investigation reports, which will set out whether the councillors have breached the authority's code of conduct, and if so, propose any punishments if appropriate.

One possible punishment could be a formal statement of disapproval read out at a council meeting.

Councillors may be recommended to undertake training and development, but they would need to agree to this.

If the councillors do not agree with the report or the recommendations, the matter will be referred to a committee of councillors for consideration.

The council estimates it will take about 12 weeks to carry out the investigation and finalise the reports.

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Offensive! Grow a spine!