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MP to highlight girl’s tragic story to urge parents to report councils to police over special needs failures
Lib Dem MP Chris Coghlan plans to raise 13-year-old Eivie White’s case at Prime Minister’s Questions, arguing that families whose children with special educational needs have been failed by councils should report possible criminal misconduct to police. He says the case points to wider problems with local authority support and comes as the government considers changes to legal protections for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Coghlan has collected 1,253 family testimonies concerning 134 councils, including accounts linked to 205 suicide attempts: 200 by children and five by parents. Eivie, who had severe autism, ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder, died in March 2023 after her family said Kent County Council and her secondary school did not provide the support she needed; the council had opposed a move to a specialist school. Her family also faced a four-month wait to move home after her death, and campaigners are considering whether the case can be reported to police.
In short
- Chris Coghlan will raise Eivie White’s case in PMQs.
- He cites 1,253 family accounts across 134 councils.
- Campaigners are considering a police report over Eivie’s case.
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The case for
Families should report suspected criminal misconduct when they believe serious failures in special-needs support may have contributed to a child’s death or danger. Police scrutiny could establish whether laws were broken, improve accountability and help expose wider problems, while the testimonies and suicide-attempt figures cited by the MP underline the potential stakes.
The case against
A tragic outcome and a council’s disputed decisions do not by themselves establish criminal conduct; police involvement should rest on specific evidence and a proper legal basis. Treating complex failures in education and care primarily as potential crimes could risk prejudging those involved and divert attention from investigating what happened, improving services and securing remedies for families.
Explained simply
Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) may need extra help with learning, communication or daily life. In England, councils assess those needs and arrange support, sometimes through a plan that sets out what schools and services must provide. Families can seek specialist education if they believe a mainstream school cannot meet a child’s needs.
Chris Coghlan is a Liberal Democrat MP who has gathered accounts from families about council support for children with SEND. One of those families is Eivie White’s: she had autism, ADHD and other needs, and died in 2023 aged 13. Her family said Kent County Council and her school did not provide the support she needed; the council had opposed a move to a specialist school.
The case sits amid wider concerns about whether families can secure the support children are entitled to, and how complaints should be handled. The government is considering changes to legal protections for children with SEND, while Coghlan says families should report suspected criminal misconduct to police.