Parent condemns controversial Leicestershire County Council SEND proposals

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Families will suffer “dire consequences” if major changes to Leicestershire’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) service go ahead, one parent with deep personal experience of its help has warned.

Caroline Guintoli has called for a rethink of proposed changes to SEND after revealing her close links with the early years service. She accessed it in October 2024 when her daughter Gabriella, who is non verbal and has a diagnosis of autism, was making the transition to a mainstream school.

Leicestershire County Council (LCC) is looking to make changes to the service, with existing staff being made redundant before being required to reapply for their own roles.

The council claims the changes to the SEND early years service – which works with children aged 0-4 with physical, sensory, behavioural and learning disabilities – are designed to improve year-round support for children.

It said the changes reflected “rises in demand for support and would make sure the vital service also operates 52 weeks a year”.

But Mrs Guintoli, who is from the Hinckley and Bosworth area of the county, is concerned that the LCC proposals would see “less qualified staff” taken on to do the role, including non teachers.

The 48-year-old said: “Every child deserves that support, guidance, and nurturing, and that can’t be done from people that aren’t trained in this.

“They need to come and see some parents and see the amount of support that is needed for these children, before just putting these rules and new things in place.”

She added that she would be happy for LCC to speak to her about the service she received and why it was so important.

In response, the county council said that early years roles had changed and moved away from being teaching roles, and promised there would be no change to the level or quality of the services it delivers.

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Mrs Guintoli remains concerned there “are going to be parents and children that will suffer dire consequences” from the new proposals though, adding when she needed the service, staff went “way above and beyond” for her family.

She said: “My six-year-old son Luca was diagnosed with cancer at the same time as we were going through Bella’s autism diagnosis. We didn’t know what we were doing.

“I was spending loads of time in hospital, and wasn’t able to do all the paperwork that Bella needed. And [staff name] just went above and beyond and took so much stress off our shoulders as a family, helped me navigate what we needed to do.

“She helped me with the paperwork, helped me get Bella an education, health and care plan (EHCP) ready to go into school, and supported the family.

“[Staff member] came out to see Bella on numerous occasions, helping me to help her. We continued with her until September 2025 when Gabriella started mainstream school with a full EHCP.

“And she just held my hand through the worst period really of my life.

“But now they’re saying they’re trying to spread [the service] over 52 weeks a year, but the teachers are saying they already cover 49 weeks.

“And they’re trying to also recruit staff that are less qualified, non-teachers.[For me], that just wouldn’t have worked. We needed someone so experienced to deal with Bella, to deal with us, to deal with everything.

“To think that there’s children there that aren’t going to be supported now. Every child deserves that support, that guidance, that nurturing, and that can’t be done from people that aren’t trained in this.

“They need to come and see some parents and see the amount of support that is needed for these children, because just putting these rules and new things in place [won’t work].

A Leicestershire County Council spokesperson said: “We want to reassure all parents that this is about making sure our most vulnerable children and families receive consistent, year round support. There will be no change to the level or quality of the services we deliver.

“Modernising and improving the service will ensure we can support children with additional needs to access wraparound and holiday care which is not currently available.

“Over time, early years roles have changed and moved away from being teaching roles. As you’d expect, we value the professionalism of our staff and have worked closely with trade union representatives for a number of months to try to reach an agreement and are following the correct, legal process required.”

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